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LIFE 



OF 



John Davis, 



BY 



W. W. H. DAVIS, A.M. 



5or )Pri&atc CircuEation. 



DOYLESTOWN, PA. 

1 886. 






Press of 
• Democrat " Job Department, 
Doylestown, Pa. 



A Labor of Love. 

—Sr. Paul. 



Illustrations. 



1. John Davis, - - - Frontispiece. 

2. Oath of Ali.egiancf,, - - - 50. 
j{. Amv Hart, - - - 100. 

4. Old Saw Mill, - - - 125. 

5. W. W. H. Davis, - - 150. 

6. Family Rksidence, - - - 190- 



John Davis. 



CHAPTER I. 

John Davis was descended of Welsh and North 
of Ireland ancestors. 

William Davis, his grandfather, came from Great 
Britain about 1740, and settled in Solebury town- 
ship, Bucks county, Pa., near the line of Upper Make- 
field. It was generally supposed, in the absence of 
testimony, he was born in Wales and came direct 
from that country, but it is now believed he was a 
native of London, whence he immigrated to America. 
The name, however, bespeaks his descent without 
regard to birthplace. Some of the family claim his 
descent to be Scotch-Welsh. 

Nothing is positively known of the family before 
William Davis came to America. It comes down, 
by tradition, that the American ancestor had two 
brothers. One of them went to the West Indies, 
engaged in planting, made a fortune and returned to 
England to enjoy it ; the other remained in London, 
studied and practiced law, became distinguished in 
his profession, and received the honors of knight- 
hood. An effort was made, many years ago, to re- 



4 JOHN DAVIS. 

cover an estate in England, said to have been left by 
one of these brothers, who died without issue, but the 
papers were lost and the matter given up. Whether 
this family tradition be true or false, we know that 
William Davis came to America, married, and was 
the ancestor of a numerous progeny. 

William Davis married Sarah Burley, a daughter 
of John Burley,' of Upper Makefield, Bucks county, 
about 1756. The Burleys were settled in that town- 
ship early, and John was the owner of considerable 
real estate there prior to 1750. His first tract was 
held under a patent from Thomas Penn, but its date 
is not known. He owned, in all, 254 acres, of which 
200 were bought of Samuel Bunting. John Burley, 
Sr., died in 1748, and his will was proved April 5, 
1749. He left five children, and possibly others — 
John, Joshua, Sarah, Elizabeth and Mary. The will 
provides that in case his widow shall marry a "care- 



1 When the Burleys came into Bucks is not known, but probably in 
the first thirty years of the last century. Some of the Western descend- 
ants claim the first progenitor landed with Penn. The name, in both 
England and Ireland, is an ancient one, and is spelled in various ways : 
Burleigh, Borleigh, Barghley, Burley, Burly, Burlie, Burle, Berley, Birley, 
et al. Burleigh is the more modern spelling. The name may have been 
derived from Bu7-lei\ a dresser of cloth, Burly, boisterous, or compounded 
from Bur, Burgh, elevated, and Ley, meaning unfilled ground. The first 
of the name in America was Giles Berdley, or Burly, an inhabitant of 
Ipswich, Mass., in 1648, whose will is dated July, 1668. John Burley set- 
tled in Connecticut, whence some of his descendants probably strayed to 
New Jersey and across the river into Bucks county. In Burke's Peerage 
are given nineteen different coats-of-arms, borne by the various English 
families of this name. 



JOHN DAVIS. 5 

fill, frugal man," she and her husband may enjoy the 
income from the estate until the youngest child is 
fourteen years of age. As the widow found a new 
husband in John Simmons, he probably filled the 
requirements of the will. John Rurley, Jr., died in 
1799 or 1800, and left three sons and eight daughters. 
After 1809, the name of Burley drops out of the 
county records, but the descendants, in the female 
line, are quite numerous. 

William Davis and Sarah Burley were the parents 
of seven children, all born subjects of the king of 
Great Britain: Jemima, December 25, 1758; John, 
September 6, 1760; Sarah, October i, 1763; William, 
September 9, 1766; Joshua, July 6, 1769; Mary, 
October 3, 1771, and Joseph, March i, 1774. The 
eldest son was named after the grandfather on 
the mother's side. One of Sarah Burley's sisters 
married James Torbet,^ and the family was also 
connected by marriage with the Slacks' and 

2 The Torberts of Bucks county are descended from Samuel, who settled 
in Upper Makefield, but we do not know at what time. His will is dated 
February t2, 1777, and proved July 28, 1778. He left six sons and two 
daughters, and his estate was divided among his children. Among the 
provisions of his will was the following : "I give my negro woman Sarah 
her freedom, she to give bail to executors to save my estate harmless." 
James Torbert, who married a daughter of John Burley, was the third son 
and fourth child of Samuel. His will is dated September 18, 1813, and 
was admitted to probate November 8th, same year. He left five sons and 
four daughters, the latter intermarrying with the Slacks, Hares, and 
Searches. His executors were his sons James and Anthony. 

3 The Slacks, of Bucks, are descended from Abraham, one of three 
brothers who came from Holland, about 1750, and settled on the Delaware, 



6 JOHN DAVIS. 

McNairs'', all well-known Bucks county families. We 
know less of the life of William Davis after marriage 
than before. He lived in Solebury township to the 
end of his days, and died near the close of the last cen- 
tury. His life was uneventful, and probably the only 

in Lower Makefield. Slack's Island, in the Delaware, was named for him. 
He was born in 1722, and died in 1802, leaving- four children — Abraham, 
Cornelius, Ja nes and Sarah, who married and left descendants. Cornelius 
died in 1828, leaving several children ; and James, born in 1756 and died in 
1832, left three sons and one daughter. He assisted to ferry Washington's 
army across the Delaware the night of December 25, 1776. Of the sons 
of James, Elijah graduated at Princeton, became a clergyman and died at 
Cincinnati, leaving several children. Anthony, the youngest son of Abra- 
ham the second, and grandson of the first Abraham, removed to Indiana 
in 1838, and died there in 1847. He was the father of the late James R. 
Slack, of Huntingdon, Indiana, who was a State Senator, Judge of the 
Courts, and a Major-General in the civil war. The Slack descendants in 
this county are numerous, and intermarried with the families of Rich, 
Stevens, Torbert, Emery, McNair, LaRue, Young, Balderson, Harvey, 
Lippincott, et al. 

■* The McNairs, Scotch-Irish, are descended from Samuel, son of James, 
driven out of Scotland to Ireland. Samuel was born in County Donegal, 
in 1699 ; married Anna Murdock, came to America in 1732, and settled in 
Upper Makefield, where the family lived five generations. He landed at 
Bristol and spent the first winter in an old school house, around which the 
wolves howled at night. He died in 1761, leaving five children - James, 
Samuel, Solomon, Rebecca and one other. James, born in 1733, married 
a Keith, had nine childrt;n, and died in i8og. From this marriage sprung 
the Bucks county McNairs. Samuel, born in 1739, married Mary Mann, 
of Horsham, and from them descended the McNairs of Montgomery 
county. The late John McNair, M. C, of Norristown, Montgomery county, 
was a grandson of Samuel, and son of John, of Southampton. He was the 
father of Captain F. V, McNair, United States navy, one of the most gal- 
lant officers of the late war. Solomon, the third son of Samuel McNair, 
the elder, was a merchant of Philadelphia, where he died in 1812. The 
descendants are found in many parts of th3 Union, and in all the walks of 
life. They have generally remained Presbyterian, the faith of their fathers. 



JOHN DAVIS. 7 

thing that stirred its even current was the presence of 
the Continental army in the neighborhood, in Decem- 
ber, 1776. The widow of WilHam Davis survived him 
until May 10, 18 19, when she died at the age of 
eighty-four. This would bring her birth to 1735. 

We find it impossible to trace some of the children 
of William Davis and Sarah Burley, and their de- 
scendants. Jemima, the eldest child, married John 
Pitner, the son of Henry and Deborah, of Bucks 
county, about 1786. He was born at Penn's Manor, 
August 18, 1755, and married, in early life, a 
daughter of a Captain Thompson, of near Newtown. 
Six daughters and two sons were born to Jemima 
and John Pitner: Sarah, May 21, 1787, and died 
September 9, 1809, of yellow fever; James Neely, 
September 29, 1788, died about 1842 ; Deborah, June 
19, 1790, died April 5, 1879; Mary, May 30, 1792, 
and has been dead half a century ; Anna, January 
II, 1794, died December 14, 1836; John, October 
19, 1796, died October 15, 1823; William, October 
29, 1798, died April 10, 1833 ; and Eliza N., born 
July 12, 1802, still living (1885) at Wilmington, Dela- 
ware. Several of these children married and left 
large families. John Pitner lived at Newtown several 
years after his second marriage, but removed to 
Maryland, five miles west of Newark, in 181 i. He 
afterward moved across the Delaware line to New 
Castle, where he died. 

Of John Davis, the second child and eldest son of 



8 JOHN DAVIS. 

William and Sarah Davis, and the father of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, we have more accurate knowledge. 
As we have already stated, he was born in Solebury 
township, September 6, 1760. Of his boyhood we 
know nothing. These uneventful years were spent 
at his father's house, and with the family of William 
Neely,^ a relative by marriage, who lived at what is 
still known as " Neely's mill," in Solebury. His 
young life ran parallel with the lives of other boys 
of his age and station, and was divided between work 
and attending such schools as the neighborhood 
afforded— work, relieved by hunting and fishing, 
probably predominating. In this dull, but happy, 
routine, that of the average American country boy, 
he grew up surrounded by good precept and example. 
Young Uavis was hastening to manhood when 
the brewing quarrel, between Great Britain and her 
American colonies, broke into open war; and events 
shortly transpired that changed the current of his 



8 William Neely, the first of the name in this county, was born in Ireland, 
August 31, 1742, and came to America, when a small boy, with his widowed 
mother. She married Charles Stewart, of Upper Makefield, with whom 
the son lived in his minority. He learned the milling; business with Robert 
'1 hompson, of Solebury, and married his daughter, June 24, 1766. He had 
two children, a son and daughter — Robert T.. who married Sarah Beau- 
mont, from whom descended the late John T. Neely, of Solebury ; and 
Jane, who married John Poor, the principal of the first seminary for young 
ladies established in Philadelphia, William Neely died July 10, 1818, and 
his widow February 13, 1834. The old Thompson-Neely mill was de- 
stroyed when the Delaware Division canal was dug. While Washing- 
ton's army was encamped in the neighborhood, in December, 1776, several 
officers quartered at William Neely's house, still standing. 



JOHN DAVIS. 9 

life, and took him from his quiet and happy home for 
years. He became an active participant in the great 
struggle. As his immediate family and friends, with 
their mixed Welsh and Irish blood, were loyal to the 
cause of the colonies, his youthful heart was fired at 
the wrongs of his country. He early had an oppor- 
tunity to take up arms. The 4th of June, 1776, the 
Continental Congress ordered a " Flying camp " to 
be established in New Jersey, and Bucks county was 
called upon for a quota of 400 men. The County 
Committee of Safety took steps to organize this 
force the loth of July, by appointing Joseph Hart,'' 
of Warminster township. Colonel of the battalion, 
with a full complement of field, staff, and company 
officers.' 

« Joseph Hart, commandant of this battalion, a man of mark in his da)\ 
was the son of John Hart, of Warminster, born September i, 1715, and 
grandson of John, who came to America in 1682. He married Elizabeth 
Collet, granddaughter of Jeremiah Collet, who came with William Penn, 
and was a member of his council. He was commissioned a Justice in 1747 
Sheriff in 1749, '50 and '51, Justice of the Court of Quarter Sessions in 1764, 
and held commissions in the militia in 1747, '55 and '56. He was an ardent 
patriot in the Revolution ; was a delegate to the convention in Carpenter's 
Hall, July 19, 1774, and chairman of the committee that recommended a 
" Congress of Deputies ;" a member of the Bucks County Committee of 
Safety ; Lieutenant of the county ; a delegate and vice president of the 
Convention of Conference in Philadelphia, in 1776, that organized a State 
government, and a member of the Supreme Executive Council of the 
State in 1777, '78 and '79. He died at Warminster, February 25, 1788. 

' The following were the officers of Colonel Hart's battalion : Joseph 
Hart, Colonel ; Captains, John Fohvell, William Roberts, William Hart. 
Valentine Opp and John Jamison ; First Lieutenants, John Krteson, Henry 
Darrah, Hugh Long, Philip Trumbower and Tennis Middleton ; Second 



10 JOHN DAVIS. 

In one of these companies, commanded by William 
Hart, young Davis served as a substitute for his 
father. These troops took the field about the first 
of August, and served through the campaign that 
closed with the fall of forts Washington and Lee, 
and the loss of New Jersey, and were discharged in 
December. The battalion was still in service when 
Washington crossed to the west bank of the Dela- 
ware, the 8th of that month. It was again called 
out, by Washington, December 19th, and ordered to 
report to General Putnam at Philadelphia, but was 
discharged toward the end of the month. 

The operations of these troops are known in his- 
tory as the " The Amboy Expedition." On another 
occasion, but we do not know whether before or 
afterward, our young soldier served a short tour of 
duty in a company commanded by Samuel Smith.* 



Lieutenants, Abraham DuBois. James Shaw, Jacob Drake, Samuel Deane 
and John Irvine ; Ensigns, McKissack, William Hines, Joseph Hart, Stoffel 
Keller and John McCammon ; Adjutant, John Johnson ; Surgeon, Joseph 
Fenton, Jr. ; Quartermaster, Alexander Benstead. 

* Samuel Smith was a descendant of Robert Smith, who settled in Bucks 
in his minority, prior to 1699, his father dying on the passage. He married 
in 1719 and died in 1745, leaving six sons, noted for their good penman- 
ship. Samuel, probably a grandson, was born February i, 1749, and died 
September 17, 1835. He was commissioned First Lieutenant in the Fifth 
Pennsylvania Regiment, January 6, 1776, and promoted to Captain March i, 
1777. He was an officer in General Lafayette's brigade of light infantry, 
and served in the Continental army to the end of the war. After his re- 
turn he married a daughter of John Wilkinson and settled down at farming. 
In the last war with Great Britain, he commanded a brigade of militia at 
Marcus Hook. One of his sons, George W. Smith, died at Zion, Cecil 



JOHN DAVIS. 11 

John Davis was sixteen years and three months 
old when the defeated Continentals sought the 
friendly shelter of the Delaware, and encamped about 
Jericho Hill, in Upper Makefield, in December, 1776. 
Having but recently returned from his maiden cam- 
paign, with his martial spirit fully aroused, the pres- 
ence of Washington and his army in the neighbor- 
hood naturally stimulated his patriotic impulses. 
The troops were encamped so near his home he 
must have come in daily contact with them, in and 
out of camp. When Washington recrossed the 
Delaware, the night of Christmas day, to attack the 
Hessians at Trenton, young Davis accompanied him 
and shared in the glory of that achievement. As he 
was not an enlisted soldier at that time, he probably 
went as a volunteer, or, possibly, a substitute for his 
father in some militia company that strengthened 
the Continental forces. He frequently related the 
incidents of that memorable night to his interested 
children. Among the wounded, at Trenton, was 
James Monroe," a Lieutenant of artillery, and after- 
county, Maryland, in 1879, aged 85 years; and another is General A. J. 
Smith, of the regular army, who distinguished himself in the war of the 
Rebellion. 

" James Mcnroe, fifth President of the United States, was born in West- 
moreland county, Virginia, April 28, 1758. He left college in 1776 to join 
the Continental army, serving through the campaign of that year as Lieu- 
tenant of artillery, and was wounded at Trenton. He served on the staff 
of Lord Sterling, in 1777. He studied law with Thomas Jefferson, and 
commenced practice. He was in Congress from 1783 to 1786, and a Sena- 
tor from 1790 to 1794. The latter year Washington appointed him Minister 



12 JOHN DAVIS. 

ward President of the United States. When the 
army recrossed the Delaware into Bucks, Lieutenant 
Monroe was taken to the residence of William Neely, 
the home of young Davis. He spent some time 
there, to recover from his wound, and was then re- 
moved to the house of Judge Wynkoop," near New- 
town. Whether John Davis crossed the Delaware 
a second time with Washington, and took part in 
the battle of Princeton, we are not informed. 

to France ; he was elected Governor of Virginia, in 1799 ; appointed one of 
the Commissioners to purchase Louisiana, by Jefferson, in 1803 ; then 
Minister to England, and transferred to Madrid, to negotiate the purchase 
of Florida, He was a member of Mr. Madison's Cabinet. He was elected 
President in 1816, re-elected in 1820, and died in 1831. He was the author 
of the celebrated " Monroe Doctrine," and a man of spotless character and 
an able and wise statesman. 

1" Henry Wynkoop was probably a descendant of Cornelius C. Wynkoop, 
who immigrated from Holland to New York, in the seventeenth century. 
His son Gerardus moved toMoreland, Montgomery county, Pa., with his fam- 
ily, in 1717, and to Northampton township, Bucks county, in 1727, taking up 
500 acres of the Tompkin's tract. He is styled, in the conveyance, " Garret 
Winekoop, gentleman, of Philadelphia." In 1738 he conveyed 260 acres to 
Nicholas Wynkoop, of Northampton, probably his eldest son. He was of 
local repute in the Revolution, and several times Speaker of the Assembly. 
Henry Wynkoop, the son of Nicholas, and grandson of Gerardus, was 
born March 2, 1737, and married Ann Knipers, of Bergen county, New 
Jersey. He was a prominent man in the Revolutionary struggle ; was a 
member of the Bucks County Committee of Safety, for 1774, '75 and '76; 
a Lieutenant in the army ; a member of the Congress that met in Carpen- 
ter's Hall, June 18, 1776, and a number of the first Congress of the United 
States, that met at New York, in 1789. Mr. Wynkoop was Judge of the 
Common Pleas of Bucks, in 1776, and delivered the first charge to the 
Grand Jury, at Newtown, under the Constitution formed that year. He 
was the personal friend of Washington and Hamilton ; and a remarkably 
handsome man. 



JOHN DAVIS. 13 

John Davds soon entered upon a broader field of 
usefulness, as a defender of his country. All his 
surroundings gave him such encouragement to enter 
the Continental service that he yielded thereto, and 
enlisted, sometime in the winter of 1777, in Captain 
Thomas Butler's company. Third Pennsylvania Regi- 
ment. As the muster rolls have been destroyed we 
are not able to give the date of his enlistment. The 
regiment was formed on the basis of Colonel St. 
Clair's" second battalion, recruited in December, 1776, 
and January and February, '"jj, and was arranged in 
the Continental service, March 12th. There is hardly 
a doubt he enlisted prior to that date. Thomas 
Craig,'"' of Northampton county. Pa., was the second 



1' General Arthur St, Clair was born at Edinburg, Scotland, in 1734, and 
served as a Lieutenant under General Wolf in Canada. He was appointed 
a Colonel in the Continental army in 1776; raised a regiment, and had it 
on the march for Canada in six weeks. He was appointed a Brigadier in 
August of that year, and a Major-General in 1777, He was at Trenton 
and Princeton ; and, serving at various points meanwhile, took part in the 
siege of Yorktown, in 1781. He was then sent, with a considerable force, 
to reinforce General Greene, in Georgia. He resided in Pennsylvania after 
the peace ; was elected to Congress in 1786, and appointed Governor of the 
Northwestern Territory in 1788, which office he held until 1802. His opera- 
tions against the Indians were disastrous. He died in poverty at Laurel 
Hill, Western Pennsylvania, August 31, 1818. 

'2 Colonel Thomas Craig, who succeeded Colonel Joseph Wood, dis- 
abled from wounds received in the Canada campaign, in command of 
the Third Pennsylvania Continental Regiment, was born in 1748, in that 
part of Bucks county now embraced in Northampton. He retired from 
service in 1783. He was still living in Northampton county in 1835 at the 
age of eighty-five. The Third was reorganized under Colonel Craig, in 
1 781, and accompanied Wayne upon the Southern campaign. The first 



14 JOHN DAVIS. 

Colonel, but Richard Butler" succeeded to the com- 
mand. The Paymaster of the regiment was Erkuries 

permanent settlement in the Forks of Delaware was made by Thomas and 
William Craig, one of them no doubt the father of the Colonel. 

13 Richard Butler, born in the parish of St. Bridget, Dublin, Ireland. 
July I, 1743, was the eldest of five brothers, all more or less conspicuous 
during the Revolutionary war. Their parents immigrated in 1748, settling 
near Carlisle, Pa., where Richard Butler passed his early years. In 1770 
he formed a partnership with his brother William, and they estab- 
lished an Indian trading house at Pittsburg. The knowledge he acquired 
of Indian dialects, and the confidence he inspired by his just treatment of 
the tribes in business intercourse, made his services so valuable to the 
United Colonies, on the breaking out of the Revolution, that he was so- 
licited, and induced, to accept the post of Indian Agent for the Middle De- 
partment. His services were so highly appreciated that his first commis- 
sion was that of Major in the Eighth Pennsylvania, on the 2d of July, 1776. 
On the i2th of March, 1777, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and in August 
assigned as second in command of Morgan's Rifle Corps. This corps 
crossed the Mohawk on the 3d of September, and at one o'clock on the 19th 
opened the battle of Saratoga, in drawing the fire of the right wing of 
Burgoyne's army. He was at Arnold's side when he was wounded in the 
attack on the Brunswickeis' camp at Saratoga, October 7, 1777. After the 
return of his corps, Butler was promoted Colonel of the Ninth Pennsylva- 
nia, distinguishing himself at Monmouth, June 28, 1778, and the following 
year at Stony Point, where he commanded the left of the assaulting forces. 
Under the arrangement of January 17, 1781, he became Colonel of the 
Fifth Pennsylvania, and marched with Wayne to Yorktown, Va. January 
I, 1783, he became Colonel of the Third Pennsylvania, retiring when the 
army was mustered out in November, 1783, with the rank of Brevet Briga- 
dier-General. He had three brothers with him in the Pennsylvania line. 
Colonel William, Major Thomas and Captain Ed-ward. In 1784, he, with 
Arthur Lee, was a Commissioner to negotiate treaties with the Indians, and 
the following year Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern De- 
partment. When Allegheny county was erected, in 1788, Colonel Butler 
was appointed County Lieutenant, and upon the adoption of the Consti- 
tution of 1790, he was the first State Senator from that county. A year 
afterward, November 4, 1791, holding the rank of Major-General and 
second in command, he fell heroically at "St. Clair's defeat." His 
brothers, Thomas and Edward, were with him at St. Clair's defeat, the 



JOHN DAYI8. 15 

Beatty,"a son of the Rev. Charles Beatty," pastor of 
Neshaminy Presbyterian church, Warwick township, 

former a Major, the latter a Captain. Thomas had his leg broken by a 
ball, but his brother Edward got him off the field. He left three children — 
William, who died a Lieutenant in the navy in the war of 1812 ; Mrs. Isaac 
Meason, of Uniontown, Fayette county, Pa., who died in 1878, in the 
ninety-sixth year of her age ; and James Butler, the gallant Captain of the 
" Blues," in the war of 1812, who died in Pittsburg, in April, 1842. 

'< Erkuries Beatty, the eighth child of Rev. Charles Beatty, was born in 
Warminster, Bucks county, Pa., October 9, 1759. He was preparing for 
college when the Revolution broke out, but was fired with military ardor. 
He served a short time in a privateer, in the fall of 1775 ; then in the army, 
in the ranks, for a year, when he received an Ensign's commission in the 
Third Pennsylvania Regiment. He was at the battles of Long Island, 
White Plains, Brandywine and Germantown, where he was wounded ; 
wintered at Valley Forge, was at Monmouth, with Sullivan against the 
Tories and Indians, in 1779, and present at the surrender of Cornwallis, 
After the war he was appointed a Lieutenant in the regular army, in which 
he served until 1793, rising to the rank of Major in the Pay Department, 
when he resigned and settled near Princeton, N. J., where he died Feb- 
ruary 3, 1823. He stood high as an officer and gentleman. 

>5 Rev. Charles Beatty was the son of John Beatty, of County Antrim, 
an officer in the British army. His mother was a Clinton, aunt to General 
George Clinton, Governor of New York and Vice President of the United 
States. He was born about 1715 ; came to America in 1729 ; began life a 
peddler, but relinquished it to finish his education at Log College under 
Rev. William Tennent. He was licensed to preach, and ordained pastor 
of Neshaminy church, Warwick, Bucks county. Pa., December i, 1743, at a 
salary of $160, and remained there till his death. He was appointed Chaplain 
to Franklin's regiment serving on the frontiers, in 1756 and 1758, and in 
Forbes' army against Fort DuQuesne, now Pittsburg. He made two visits 
to England, in 1760, to solicit relief foraged ministers, when he witnessed 
the coronation of George III, and was presented at court, and, in 1767, 
seeking medical relief for his wife, who died there in 1768. He died on the 
Island of Barbadoes, of yellow fever, whither he went in 1772, in the in- 
terest of the College of New Jersey. He married Ann Reading, daughter 
of Acling-riovernor John Reading, of New Jersey, June 24, 1746, and 
had several children, General Charles Beatty being his eldest son. 



16 JOHN DAVIS. 

Bucks county. As a Continental soldier young Davis 
served his country with courage and fidelity several 
years. In the absence of muster rolls and his dis- 
charge, it is impossible to name all the organizations 
he belonged to, or give a detailed summary of his 
service. We have evidence, however, that he be- 
longed to, and served in, the Second, Third, Eighth 
and Ninth Pennsylvania Regiments, the change of 
regiments being caused by consolidation and reorgani- 
zation from time to time, as the good of the service 
required. In the summer of 1780, Washington 
caused a light infantry corps, composed of picked 
men from Continental regiments in the field, to be 
organized for General Lafayette. Young Davis was 
drawn for this service, and placed in Captain Joseph 
McClellan's company, which was assigned to Colonel 
Stewart's'" Ninth Regiment. He served in this corps 
from about the first of August to the 26th of No- 

i« Colonel Walter Stewart was of Irish descent and born about 1756. 
He had a fair, florid complexion, was vivacious, intelligent, well educated 
and is said to have been the handsomest man in the American army. He 
began his Revolutionary services as aide-de-camp to General Gates. He 
was commissioned Captain in the Third Pennsylvania Battalion, January 6, 
1776 ; promoted Colonel June 17, 1777, and took command July 6th, lead- 
ing his regiment at Brandywine and Germantovvn. By resolution of Con- 
gress, November 12, 1777, Colonel Stewart's regiment was to be annexed 
to the Pennsylvania line and form the Thirteenth. He was transferred to 
the Second Regiment, July i, 1778. On the nth of April, 1781, just before 
starting on the Southern campaign with General Wayne, he was mar- 
ried to a daughter of Blair McGlenachan, a merchant of Philadelphia. He 
retired from service, January i, 1783, with the brevet of Brigadier-General. 
He became a merchant of Philadelphia, and was Major-General of the First 



JOHN DAVIS. 17 

vember, when it was disbanded, and the officers and 
men returned to their old regiments. 

The Revolutionary services of John Davis cover 
the most important period of the war, and were 
highly honorable to the young soldier. Like a true 
patriot he shouldered his musket and voluntarily 
entered the ranks, not waiting for a commission to 
entice him to the field of danger. He began his 
career a private, and, as we have no evidence of 
his promotion, no doubt he was in the ranks through 
all his years of service — one of that innumerable 
host which win all battles, bear the heat and 
burden of the day alway, and rarely have justice 
done them. It is not our purpose to particularize 
the services of John Davis, nor is that necessary, for 
brief mention of where and when he served will 
epitomize the history of the great struggle for con- 
stitutional government in America. 

Division Pennsylvania Militia. He died at Philadelphia, June 14th or 15th, 
1796, at the early age of forty. 



CHAPTER II. 

The year 1777 was the most eventful of the Revo- 
lutionary struggle. Trenton and Princeton infused 
new life into the leaders of the Continental forces 
and the statesmen who controlled political affairs. 
The campaign opened with spirit and was pushed 
with vigor ; and, before its close, one British army 
had laid down its arms ; another was roughly hand- 
led on two well-contested fields, while the opposing 
forces were brought face to face in several minor 
engagements. In these operations young Davis was 
an active participant. 

As already stated, he served in .the Amboy expe- 
dition, in the summer and fall of 1776, in the battal- 
ion commanded by Colonel Joseph Hart, of Bucks 
county, and was discharged at the close of December. 
At what point he joined the Continental army, after 
his enlistment, is not known, but probably at Mor- 
ristown, New Jersey, where the regiment, he was 
assigned to, was in winter quarters. Washington 
took the field early in the spring, and when the 
British army sailed south, in August, he moved his 
battalions in that direction. He crossed the Dela- 
ware at Coryell's Ferry,' now New Hope, and at 

1 Coryell's Ferry, an important crossing of the Delaware at an early day, 
sixteen miles above Trenton, has Lambertville on the New Jersey, and New 



JOHN DAVIS. 19 

Howell's Ferry, four miles above, the last of July, 
and marched down the York road, through Bucks 
county toward Philadelphia, the objective point of 
the enemy. The army lay upon the Neshaminy 
hills, a mile above Hartsville, two weeks, and until 
the destination of the British fleet was known. 
While there, the young Marquis de LaFayette,'^ just 
arrived from France, reported for duty at head- 
quarters. 

Young Davis took part in the battle of Brandy- 
wine,^ fought the iith of September, for the pos- 
session of Philadelphia. The Americans lost the 
day, and the capital of the new Union of States fell 
into the hands of the enemy. It was the fortune of 
our young soldier, in that action, to be near General 
Lafayette when wounded, and he assisted to carry 
him to a place of safety. A few nights afterward, he 

Hope on the Pennsylvania, side. It received its name from Emanuel Cor- 
yell, of Somerset county, N. J., who settled there and established the ferry 
in 1732. The ferry house was on the site of l.ambertville, near the end of 
the present bridge across the river. The crossing w-as oh the traveled 
route between East Jersey and the Schuylkill. 

^ The Marquis de LaFayette, a French nobleman of the highest rank, 
came to America, in 1777, to assist the colonies in their struggle with Great 
Britain. Landing at Charleston, S. C, he traveled on horseback to 
Philadelphia, where he met Washington, and a few days afterward re- 
ported for duty at headquarters. He served the cause with great zeal, and 
was given the rank of Major-General without pay. He made a visit to this 
country, in 1824, as the nation's guest, and died in 1834. His memory is 
cherished next to Washington. 

3 A small stream flowing through Chester county. Pa., and emptying 
into the Christiana at, or near, "\\ilminglon, Delaware. 



20 JOHN DAVIS. 

was with his own and other regiments of the Penn- 
sylvania Hne, in bivouac near PaoH/ when surprised 
by the British. A cruel massacre took place, but he 
escaped unhurt. We next find him engaged at 
Germantown/ the 4th of October, and he was again 
protected from harm. Washington surprised the 
British, and, but for some untoward circumstances, 
must have gained a victory. It proved, at least, the 
Continental army was rapidly gaining confidence in 
themselves, and taught the enemy they were worthy 
foemen. This battle concluded the important opera- 
tions of Washington's army for that campaign, and, 
in December, it retired to the south bank of the 
Schuylkill, and passed a cheerless winter in huts at 
Valley Forge.* The sufferings of that faithful body 
of men can never be told. It was a hardening pro- 



* Paoli is a post village in Chester count)', Pa., but the massacre took 
place two miles southwest of it, and a mile south of the Warren tavern on 
the Lancaster turnpike. The spot is a quarter of a mile from the highway. 
General Wayne was surprised by the British the night of September 20, 
1777 ; fifty of his men were murdered in cold blood, and a number wounded. 

5 Germantown, now within the corporate limits of Philadelphia, was 
then a long village of a single street, four or five miles out of town. 
Washington's attack was a surprise, but the enemy recovered and saved 
himself from a great disaster. The town was settled by Germans under 
Pastorious, in 1683. It is now a handsome suburb of the city, where many 
rich and cultivated people reside. 

« Valley Forge, where an iron works was built before 1770, is on the 
south bank of the Schuylkill, nine miles above Norristown. Washington's 
headquarter house has been purchased by an association, and is becoming 
a place of patriotic resort. The winter the Continental army spent there 
tried it more than its campaigns in the field. 



JOHN DAVIS. 21 

cess for the great work yet before them. It would 
be interesting to know some of the personal experi- 
ence of our young soldier, but this is denied us. We 
feel assured, however, that he shared with his fellows 
the hardships of that memorable winter without a 
murmur. 

The army marched from Valley Forge the i8th of 
June, 1778, led by Washington in person; passed 
through Doylestown,' where a portion of it lay over 
night ; recrossed the Delaware at Coryell's Ferry, 
and struck the British in flank, at Monmouth," eight 
days afterward. The regiment, to which John Davis 
belonged, held the key to the American position at the 
most critical hour of the day, and no doubt he did his 
full share of the work. He was with his colors in all 
the operations of the main army in '78, and passed 
the following winter at Morristown. He partici- 
pated, actively, in the campaign of the following 
year, and was with Wayne," in his assault on Stony 



"> Doylestown, the county seat of Bucks, Pa., is twenty-four miles from 
Philadelphia, and eleven from the Delaware at Coryell's Ferry, now New 
Hope. The town site was settled by Edward Doyle, about 1730. The loca- 
tion is delightful, five hundred feet above sea level, and surrounded by a 
lovely country. The population was 2,500 in 1880. 

* The battle of Monmouth was fought about two miles from the town of 
Freehold, N. J. , then Monmouth Court House, county of the same name, the 
28th of June, 1778. Washington struck the British army in flank, on their 
march from Philadelphia to New York. The battle was severe, but not 
decisive. The Americans intended to renew it the next morning, but the 
enemy decamped in the night. 

» Anthony Wayne was born in Chester county, Pa., January i, 17415 ; 



22 JOHN DAVIS. 

Point," the night of July 15th. In the attack on 
the block house at Bergen Point," on the Hudson, 
New Jersey, made by a portion of the Pennsylvania 
line, July 21, 1780, he was severely wounded in the 
foot, and disabled for a time ; but was ready for 
duty by October, and, on the second of that month, 
was one of the guard around the gallows when 
Major Andre " was hanged. His regiment took part 

educated at Philadelphia, and became a surveyor. He was engaged Ic- 
cating a land grant in Nova Scotia from 1765 to 1767, whence he returned 
home, married and settled down. He was a member of Assembly in 1773. 
In 1775 he was appointed a Colonel in the Continental army, and went to 
Canada ; and in 1776 was commisssoned a Brigadier-General. He was 
with Washington in his most important battles, and conducted a success- 
ful campaign in Georgia, He succeeded St. Clair in command of the 
army in 1792 ; gained a victory over the Western Indians in 1794, and died 
in 1795. His remains repose in Radnor churchyard, Delaware county, Pa, 

1" Stony Point was a strong fortress on the west bank of the Hudson. 
Sir Henry Clinton took it and the works opposite on Verplank Point, June 
I, 1779, and put garrisons in them. General Wayne suiprised, and cap- 
tured. Stony Point the morning of the i6th of July, after a spirited resist- 
ance. Both works were dismantled and partly destroyed, but were re- 
occupied by the British. 

•1 The attack on Block House Point was made by the First and Second 
Brigades of the Pennsylvania line, with four pieces of artillery from Colo- 
nel Proctor's regiment, and Colonel Moylan's Dragoons, the whole com- 
manded by General Wayne. The General, in a letter to Washington, 
wrote of this battle : " Such was the enthusiastic bravery of all ranks of 
officers and men, that the First Regiment, no longer capable of restraint, 
rather than leave a post in the rear, rushed with impetuosity over the abatis 
and advanced to the stockades, from which they were with difficulty with- 
drawn, although they had no means of forcing an entrance. The con- 
tagion spread to the Second, but, by very great efforts of the officers of both 
regiments, they were at last restrained, not without the loss of some gallant 
officers wounded, and some brave men killed." 

1- John Andre, Adjutant General of the British army, was captured on 



JOHN DAVIS. 28 

in the revolt of the Pennsylvania line '' at Morristown, 
January i, 1781, but, as he was not an active partici- 
pant, he was not held responsible. The two British 
emissaries, sent by General Howe to seduce the 
Americans, engaged in this affair, from their allegiance, 
were caught, tried by court martial, and hanged on 
the bank of the Delaware, at Morrisville,'* Bucks 
county. The rope they were hanged with was taken 
fiom the horse of an officer who witnessed the 
execution. 

The foregoing record is an excellent one, suf^cient 
to be proud of, but it did not end the services of 

his return from an interview with Arnold concerning his surrender of West 
Point to the British. He was tried by court martial, found guilty and 
sentenced to be hanged. Washington approved the finding of the court 
with great reluctance. 

13 The revolt of the Pennsylvania line, when the troops threw off all 
control by their officers, took place in January, 1781 ; probably driven to it 
by want of food, pay and clothing. The difficulty was arranged by the 
government yielding to their demands, but some of the ringleaders were 
executed. The line was reorganized and the men, who claimed their time 
to be up, were discharged. Many of them re-enlisted. The Pennsylvania 
line, one of the mainstays of the Continental army, consisted of eleven 
regiments, numbering about 8,000 men. It rendered most efficient service, 
and was not discharged until the close of the war. Few armies have had 
a finer body of soldiers. Morristown is in New Jersey, twenty miles west 
of Newark. 

1* This village, an incorporated borough, is situated on the west bank of 
the Delaware, in Bucks county, Pa., at Trenton Falls. The site was taken 
up by John Wood about 1678, and patented to Joseph Wood in 1703 ; and 
was named after Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution. It was 
the home of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Mr, Morris 
and George Clymer. General Moreau lived there from 1807 to 181 1. 



24 JOHN DAVIS. 

John Davis. He claimed to have marched South, 
with a portion of the Pennsylvania line, in 1781, and 
to have been present at the siege of Yorktown " and 
witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis.'" We have 
documentary evidence to support this declaration. 
In May of that year, eig-ht hundred men, under 
Wayne, were ordered to assemble at York," Pa., 
preparatory to reinforcing the troops in Virginia. In 
the private journal of Captain Joseph McClellan,'* 

15 Yorktown, the scene of Cornwallis' surrender, is situated on York 
river, Va., near its mouth. Once a place of importance, it has fallen com- 
pletely into decay. It was besieg'ed by the Federal army, under McClellan, 
in the Civil War, and taken. Here was opened the celebrated Peninsular 
campaign. 

" Charles, Second Earl and First Marquis of Cornwallis, was born in 
1738 and died in 1805. He entered the army and served a campaign in 
Germany, in 1761. He succeeded to the earldom and estates in 1762, and 
was made aide-de-camp to the King in 1765. He came to America when 
the war broke out and commanded in South Carolina, in 1780. He was 
appointed Governor-General of India, in 1786, where he gained some 
renown. In civil life he was distinguished by independence of character 
and inflexible integrity. 

" The county seat of York county. Pa., a handsome and wealthy town 
of several thousand inhabitants. During the Civil War it was made a 
rendezvoi'.s of troops, whence they were sent South by rail. 

1* Joseph McClellan was born in Middletown township, Chester, now Del- 
aware county. Pa., April 28, 1747 ; and on the 20th of March, 1776, was ap- 
pointed First Lieutenant in Captain Abraham Marshall's company, in Colonel 
Atlee's Musketry Battalion. Upon the resignation of Captain Marshall, Lieu- 
tenant McClellan was commissioned Captain, July 15, 1776. He was in 
the disastrous battle of Long Island, where the Colonel was captured and 
the Lieutenant-Colonel, Parry, killed, and the battalion so nearly destroyed 
its organization had to be disbanded. Captain McClellan was there- 
upon, November 27, 1776, appointed in the Ninth Pennsylvania, serving 
therein (only when attached to Colonel Stewart's Light Infantry Regiment 



JOHN DAVIS. 2o 

the same in whose company he served in the light 
infantry the year before, among the names of the 
soldiers is that of John Davis. He was then serving 
in the Second Pennsylvania Regiment. This detach- 
ment took up the line of march the 26th of May, 
participated in the siege of Vorktown, and saw 
other hard service. 

We have the same difficulty in fixing the exact 
date of John Davis' discharge from the Continental 
army, as his entry into it, and for a like reason, the 
loss of muster rolls and other papers. There has 
been a question with the members of the family since 
his decease as to the time of his discharge, but 
recently discovered testimony fixes the year without 
doubt. When his widow made application for a 

under the command of General Lafayette from August to the last of 
November, 1780,) until January 17, 1781, when he was arranged in the 
Second Pennsylvania, Colonel Walter Stewart. He resigned June 10, 
1781, on the march to Yorktown, Va. General Wayne endorsed on the 
back of his commission the following : " It is a duty which I owe to justice 
and merit, to declare that the conduct of Captain McClellan, upon every 
occasion, has been that of a brave, active and vigilant officer, which will 
ever recommend him to the attention of the country and the esteem of his 
fellow-citizens." In 1784, Captain McClellan was elected Commissioner of 
Chester county, and in 1786 he married Keziah, daughter of Joseph Parke, 
Esq, In 1792 he was elected Sheriff, and in 1797 member of the State 
Senate. In 1814, when the Bank of Chester County was established, he 
became its first president. In his latter days he lived on a farm in Brandy- 
wine township. He died, October 24, 1834, and is buried at Octarara 
church-yard. The journals he kept during his service in the army are still 
in possession of his descendants, and have been used largely in compiling 
the Revolutionary records of Pennsylvania. See Vol. XI, Second Series, 
Pennsylvania Archives. 



26 JOHN DAVIS. 

pension, about 1841, she stated her husband was dis- 
charged in 1780, because of disability from the wound 
received in July of that year. This was three years 
before they were married, and it was not difficult to 
be mistaken in a date after the lapse of more than 
half a century. If she were correct, he must have 
been discharged between November 26th, when he 
returned to his regiment from service in the light 
infantry, and the revolt of the Pennsylvania line the 
following January, in which he and his regiment 
participated. John B. Linn,'" of Bellefonte, Pa., the 
best posted man in the State on such matters, says it 
is possible he was discharged in 1780, or after the 
revolt, in 1781, but that he immediately re-enlisted 

'" John B. Linn, born at Lewisburg, Union county. Pa., October 15, 
1831 ; graduated at Marshall College, Mercersburg, Pa., in the class of 
1848; read law with his father, James F. Linn, and was admitted to the 
bar of L^nion county, September 16, 1851. In 1852-1853 he practiced his 
profession in Sullivan county, and was elected District Attorney. He 
returned to Lewisburg is 1854, where he practiced until his removal to 
Bellefonte, in 1871, On the loth of April, 1873, he was appointed Deputy 
Secretary of the Commonwealth. Governor Hartranft having recom- 
mended the publication of a Second Series of the Pennsylvania Archives, in 
1874, Dr. William H. Egle and Mr. Linn were appointed editors. Twelve 
volumes were issued under their supervision. In 1877 Mr, Linn published 
his " Annals of BulYalo Valley " (620 pages), embracing mainly the historj' 
of Union county, 1 755-1855. May i6, 1878, upon the resignation of 
Colonel Quay, Mr. Linn was commissioned Secretary of the Common- 
wealth, and under his supervision the volume entitled " Duke of York's 
Laws, 1676-1682," and " Laws of the Province, 1682-1700," was compiled. 
On his retirement from office in February, 1879, Mr. Linn resumed the 
practice of his profession at Bellefonte. In the year 1882 he compiled 
" The History of Centre and Clinton Counties," published in 1883, by Louis 
H. Everts, of Philadelphia. 



JOHN DAVIS. 27 

in Captain McClellan's company. The captain's 
journal confirms this service. It is stated, in 
the Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Volume 
X, page 459, that John Davis was discharged in 
1781. 

This testimony, in addition to the declaration of 
the soldier that he served from Trenton to Yorktown, 
would seem sufficient, but we again put him on the 
witness stand, three years before his death, and let 
him speak for himself. In his application for a pen- 
sion from Pennsylvania, September i, 1829, he made 
the following declaration : 

" I, John Davis, do, on my oath, testify and declare, 
that I enlisted in the army of the Revolution in 1777, 
in Captain Butler's company, in Colonel Butler's 
regiment, Pennsylvania line ; afterward was trans- 
ferred into Captain McClellan's Company of Light 
Infantry; that I served in the line until some time 
in 1 78 1, when I was honorably discharged, which 
discharge is lost. I further testify, that I was 
wounded in my foot, while in service at a block 
house near Fort Lee, on the Hudson river, from 
which I was, and continue to be, much disabled," etc. 

Further testimony, to prove his length of service, 
is not required, and his declaration, that he served 
from Trenton to Yorktown, is sustained. We will 
state here, in addition to what has already been 
stated, that this was his repeated declaration to his 
children. After John Davis returned home from 
the Continental army, he was appointed and com- 



28 JOHN DAVIS. 

missioned Ensign in the Second Battalion of Bucks 
County Militia, and with it was called into service on 
one or two occasions. This commission should 
throw some light on the question of dates, but does 
not, as the figures of the year are so obliterated they 
cannot be made out. He took the oath of allegiance 
to Pennsylvania while in the army, at the age of 
nineteen years and one month, eighteen days after 
the Act was passed. As the oath was taken before a 
Bucks county magistrate, no doubt it was adminis- 
tered to him when at home on furlough ; or the 
magistrate may have visited camp to administer the 
oath to Bucks county soldiers. At that time, October, 
1779, there was not much military activity, as the 
Continental army lay on the Hudson watching the 
enemy at New York. The original certificate of 
allegiance is as follows : 

" Bucks County, ss."' 

" I do hereby certify, that John Davis has volun- 
tarily taken the oath of allegiance and fidelity, as 
directed by an Act of General Assembly of Pennsyl- 
vania, passed the first day of October, A. D. 1779. 
Witness my hand and seal the i8th day of October, 
A. D. 1779. (Signed) JOHN CHAPMAN.'"" 

On the 24th of March, 1785, the Legislature of 
Pennsylvania passed an act authorizing and directing 
certain land to be surveyed and allotted to those who 

2" John Chapman was a descendant of the John Chapman who settled 
in Wrightstown, in 1684, and a cousin of Judge Chapman. 



JOHN DAVIS. 29 

had served in the war of the Revokition from this 
State. The records of the ofifice of Internal Affairs, 
at Harrisburg, show that John Davis, private in the 
Third Pennsylvania Regiment, drew lot No. 1,167, in 
the Sixth Donation District, and a patent therefor was 
issued to him, September 29, 1787. The survey, 
containing two hundred acres, and made November 
1 5- '785> was located near the southeast line of 
Crawford county. When, and to whom, this land 
was sold we have no record.'^' 

At the close of his military services, John Davis 
returned to his father's house in his native township 
of Solebury. We now lose sight of him for a time. 
As he was in the army during the years young men 
usually learn trades, from sixteen to twenty-one, he 
was too old, when discharged, to begin an appren- 
ticeship. Although not trained to any skilled labor, 
no doubt he found some steady employment to 
occupy his time, as he had been brought up to habits 

»> Department of Internal Affairs, ) 

Harrisburg, September t, 1883, \ 

Dear Sir: I have your postal card of the 29th ult. 

John Davis, private in Third Pennsylvania Regiment, in the war of the 
Revolution, drew lot No. 1,167 if the Sixth Donation District, and a patent 
appears to have been granted 23d September, 1787. The survey, con- 
taining 200 acres, was made November 15, 1785, and appears to be located 
near the southeastern line of Crawford county, and within that county. 
The surveys of the Donation lands and the distribution of the lots were 
authorized and directed by the Act of 21st of March, 1785. (Smith's Laws, 
Vol. II, page 290.) Yours truly, 

(Signed,) J. Simpson Africa. 
To W. H'. H. Davis, Esq., Doyiestowu, Pa. 



30 JOHN DAVIS. 

of industry. We next hear of him looking for a 
partner to share his worldly joys and sorrows, his 
choice falling upon a young lady of the adjoining 
township of Buckingham, Ann, a daughter of Wil- 
liam Simpson.''^ They were married the 26th of June, 
1783, by Rev. James Boyd,^^ pastor of the Pres- 
byterian church, at Newtown.'"'' His wife was four 

22 William Simpson, born in lyj^a, is supposed to have immigrated from 
the north of Ireland, between 1748 and 1750, and settled in Buckingham 
township, Bucks county. He made application to purchase 100 acres of land, 
January 15, 1766, and the deed was executed by John Penn, May 23, 
1767. He married Nanc)' Hines, of New Britain, and was the father of 
two sons and two daughters — John and Matthew, and Ann and Mary. 
Matthew removed to near Zanesville, Ohio, in 1810 ; John lived and died 
in the county, and was the father of the late Mrs. Ann Jamison, of Buck- 
ingham ; Ann married John Davis. William Simpson died in 1816, at the 
age of 84. A soldier of this name, and a private in Colonel Thompson's 
regiment, was the first Pennsylvanian to fall in the Revolution, dying of a 
wound received at " Ploughed Hill," in front of the British post at Bunker 
Hill, August 26, 1775. He was a brother of General Michael, and of John 
Simpson, the latter many years Recorder of Northumberland county. Pa. I 
do not know that they were related to our William Simpson. General 
Grant's mother descended from the Bucks county Simpsons. 

23 We do not know the birthplace of Rev. James Boyd, nor his date of 
birth or day of death. He was called to the pastorate of the Newtown Pres- 
byterian church, in 1769, and continued there, in uninterrupted labor, until 
his death in 1814, the long period of 46 years. He was pastor of Bensalem 
church a part of this time. He was an able and earnest minister, the 
church flourished under his care, and, in the trying times of the Revolution, 
he was a patriot, and constant to his country's cause. 

2J Newtown was the county seat of Bucks from 1725 to 1812, when the 
seat of Justice was removed to Doy lest own, near the geographical centre. 
It was settled about 1685 ; laid out in 1733, and incorporated in 1838. The 
population is about 1,400. It issituated in the midst of a lovely country, on 
Newtown creek, a branch of Neshaminy, and is five miles from the 



JOHN DAVIS. 31 

years his junior, having been born December 24, 
1764. William Simpson, the father of Mrs. Davis, 
was likewise a soldier of the Revolution. We have 
no record of his services, and therefore cannot say 
when, nor how long, he served in the Continental 
army. His loyalty to the cause of the Colonies made 
him obnoxious to his Tory neighbors, who did not 
hesitate to show their hostility to him. On one 
occasion, when at home on furlough, a band of Tories 
surrounded his dwelling to make him prisoner, or 
subject him to rougher treatment. He was notified 
of their presence just in time to run down cellar and 
have an empty hogshead turned ov^er him, before 
they rushed into the house. They searched for him 
where they supposed he could be found, but no one 
thought of the hogshead, and when they withdrew 
he came forth from his unique hiding place. 

John Davis, soon after his marriage, settled down 
as a farmer, the occupation he followed as long as he 
was able to attend to business. As he was without 
means to purchase a farm, he rented of Andrew or 
George Ellicott, of Solebury, a neighbor and friend 
of his father. Here he resided ten years. John and 
Ann Davis were the parents of nine children, five of 
which were born in Bucks county, and four after 
their removal to Maryland, near the close of the 
century: Sarah, born October 12, 1784; William, 

Delaware. When the American army occupied the west bank of the 
Delaware, in December, 1776, Newtown was the depot of supplies. 



32 JOHN DAVIS. 

August 22, 1786; John, August 7, 1788; Ann, 
November 6, 1790; Samuel, December, 1792, who 
died in infancy; Joshua, June 2"], 1796; Samuel S., 
September, 1798; Joseph, January 27, 1803, and 
Elizabeth, born November 18, 1805. 



CHAPTER III. 

The attention of the people of Bucks county was 
directed to Maryland, as a good country to emigrate 
to, prior to the Revolution. About 1770, the three 
sons of Andrew EUicott,' of Solebury — Joseph, An- 
drew, and John — purchased land at what is now Elli- 
cott's Mills; and, after the war, removed thither, 
taking with them mechanics, tools, animals, etc. 
They also purchased a tract in Montgomery county. 
They settled on the Patapsco, ten miles from 
Baltimore,'' where they built large flour mills, 
erected dwellings, stores, opened roads, and estab- 
lished the seat of an extensive business. They 
were successful, and became leaders in all improve- 

' Andrew Ellicott, the descendant of a respectable family resident in 
Devonshire, England, from the time of William the Conqueror, settled in 
Solebury, about 1730. He was a farmer and miller. Of the sons, Joseph 
was a genius in mechanics. He made a repeating watch, in 1766, without 
instruction, which he took to England, where it was much admired. Upon 
his return, in 1769, he made a four-faced musical clocli which played 24 
tunes, and combined many other wonderful and delicate movements. He 
died in 1780, at the age of 48. Andrew, the son of Joseph, born in Sole- 
bury in 1754, was Surveyor General of the United States in 1792, and the 
first to make accurate measurement of the Falls of Niagara. He was con- 
sulting engineer in laying out the city of Washington and completed the 
work Major L'Enfant began, In 1812 he was appointed Professor of 
Mathematics at West Point, and died there in 1820. 

"> Baltimore is situated on the north side of Patapsco river, fourteen 
miles from its mouth at Chesapeake bay. It was laid out in 1729, and 
made a port of entry in 1780. The population was 268,000 in 1870. 



34 JOHN DAVIS. 

ments ; introduced the use of plaster of Paris and 
red clover into Maryland, and were the authors of 
several useful inventions. In 1800, they built 
three flour mills on Glenn's Falls, near Baltimore ; 
two of brick, with four pairs of seven-foot burr 
stones in each, and one of frame with two pairs of 
stones of the same size, all supplied with water from 
the same head race. Each mill had a twenty-four- 
foot over-shot w-hecl, and, what was remarkable at 
that day, the tail race of the first was the head race 
of the second, and so on. They built a large wagon, 
much admired, in which six horses hauled fifty bar- 
rels of flour at a load, into Baltimore, making two 
trips a day. The first turnpike in Maryland was 
made in 18 10, between Baltimore and Ellicott's upper 
mills, passing by Glenn's Falls. ^ 

The Ellicotts held out inducements to Bucks 
county farmers and mechanics to settle on their 
Maryland land, and a number migrated thither. 
Among these were John Davis and his family, who 
settled near Brookville, on Holland river, twenty 
miles from Washington," the nearest market, and 



s Glenn's Falls, a creek running through Baltimore, is noted for its great 
freshets and destruction to property along its banks. It furnishes fine 
water-power. 

* Washington, the capital of the United States, on the north bank of the 
Potomac, was laid out in 1792. The situation is very eligible. The popu- 
lation in 1800 was between eight and nine thousand, and at this time, 1885, 
about 250,000. It has become the handsomest city in the world. 



JOHN DAVIS. 35 

about the same distance from Georgetown,^ in 1795, 
when his son John was seven years old. This was 
before the day of raih'oads and steamboats,' and the 
only methods of land travel were by wagon or on 
horseback. All the worldly goods of the family, 
with the mother and children, were put into two of 
the large country wagons of the period, and, bidding 
farewells to friends and relatives, they journeyed 
toward the South. They probably struck the Middle 
road at the Anchor tavern,^ and traveled down it to 
Philadelphia, then an inconsiderable city," passed 

5 Georgetown was a thriving; place nearly half a century before Wash- 
ington was thought of. Its laying out was authorized by the Assembly of 
Maryland, in 1751. It soon grew into a town of importance, and, during 
the Revolutionary War, was a place of deposit for military stores. It is 
situated at the head of tide-water, on the Potomac, and is now within 
the corporate limits of Washington. 

' The first model of a steamboat that ever floated was made by John 
Fitch, in the log shop of Sutphin McDowell, Warminster township, Bucks 
county. Pa. The machinery, of brass, was made by Nathaniel B. Bolieau, then 
a student at Princeton College, who lived near by. It was tried on the dam 
of Arthur Watts, in Southampton, the spring, or summer, of 1785. About 
1788, Fitch built a steamboat that made several successful trips on the Dela- 
ware between Philadelphia and Burlington. Fitch was born in Connec- 
ticut, in 1743, and died in Kentucky, about 1798. 

' The Anchor tavern, a famous hostelry in its day, is in Wrightstown 
township, Bucks county. Pa., where the Middle road intersects the Durham 
road, nine miles from Doylestown and five from Newtown. It is one of 
the very oldest continuously-kept public houses in the county, having been 
built by Joseph Hampton soon after 1724. The anchor was a favorite sign 
with early printers, and was used as an emblem. In the catacombs at Rome 
it was typical of the words of St. Paul, " The anchor of the soul," etc. 

8 Philadelphia, founded in 1682, had a slow growth the first century. In 
1792 the population, including the Liberties, was but 42,516, and, in i8co, 
67,811. Now, 1885, the population is about 1,200,000. 



36 J(^HN DAVIS. 

through DelaWrire and Maryland to the Susque- 
hanna," crossing on a flat boat at Havre de Grace,'" 
and through Baltimore to their new home near the 
Potomac." The trip must have been interesting to 
the children old enough to appreciate it. Forty-six 
years afterward, one of these children, the second 
son, John, now a man of fifty-three, crossed the Sus- 
quehanna, at the same place, on his way to take his 
seat in the Congress of the Ui'ited States. In the 
meantime there had been a marvelous revolution in 
human affairs, greater than any seer could have fore- 
told. Our emigrants reached their destination, near 
Rock Creek meeting house,'''' in safety. 

John Davis was preceded, or followed, to Mary- 
land by Jonathan Bye, of Solebury, William Canby 
and his two sons, William and Joseph and their 
families, John Bennett, brother of Lott Bennett, 
late of Warminster, deceased, William Kelly, and 



» The largest river in Pennsylvania ; is formed by tiie two main branches 
uniting at Northumberland ; then flows 150 miles and empties into Chesa- 
peake bay. The North branch rises in Otsego lake, New York, and the 
West branch in Cambria county, Pa. The entire length is not short of 
400 miles. It flows through a beautiful and highly cultivated country. 

'0 A thriving post village of Harford county, Maryland, at the head of 
Chesapeake bay, thirty-six miles from Baltimore ; population 2,500. The 
Susquehanna is here spanned by a railroad bridge. 

" A large river of Virginia and Maryland, that rises among the moun- 
tains of West Virginia, receiving the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry, and 
empties into Chesapeake bay. Some of the scenery along its banks is fine. 

12 Now Rockville, a post village, capital of Montgomery county, Mary- 
land, north-northwest of Washington city. It has a court house, jail, five 
churches, a newspaper and an academy. 



JOHN DAVIS. 37 

George and Moses Rarnsley, of Newtown. Among 
these Bucks county emigrants was a humorous fellow 
by the name of George Booth, likewise of Newtown. 
He returned from Maryland in a year to visit his old 
friends, and was plied with questions as to the pros- 
pect for business, etc. He told his inquisitors that 
the first work he was set at, when he reached Mary- 
land, was making leather shirts for the children, as 
they had been fed so long on herrings the bones 
stuck through the skin, and no other kind of shirt 
would do. The improved cultivation by these Bucks 
county farmers worked a great change in that region, 
and the worn-out farms were made to blossom like 
the rose. 

John Davis, Sr., lived twenty-one years in Maryland, 
occupied with farming, and several of his children 
grew up to be men and women. The cultivation of 
the soil was much more laborious then than now ; 
there were no modern inventions to lighten labor, 
while the absence of fertilizers lessened the yield of 
the land. Farming had not then become a practical 
science. We have no history of all the years he 
spent there. They were laborious, and he probably 
got but little ahead in the world. He went to the 
Washington and Georgetown markets to sell his 
produce, and saw the new Federal capital struggle 
through its early infancy. It gave no promise then 
of the beautiful city it afterward became. Not see- 
ing a bright prospect ahead, in Maryland, Mr. Davis 



38 JOHN DAVIS. 

turned his eyes to the West, whither the " Star of 
Empire " was rapidly taking its way. That region, 
then as now, was considered the land of promise, 
where all, willing to work, could better their condi- 
tion. He resolved to emigrate. Placing his family 
and worldly possessions, a second time, in wagons, 
Mr. Davis left Rock Creek, in 1816, and started for 
the almost wilderness country of Ohio.'^ In due 
time they reached their new home. We have no 
record of that long trip, which could hardly have been 
without adventure and incident. He settled on the 
banks of the beautiful Scioto, ten miles above 
Columbus,''' where he spent the remainder of his life. 
When John Davis settled in Ohio and began life 
anew, he was fifty-six years old, an age when most 
men think more of seeking rest than assuming new 
burdens. He indulged no such thought. He ac- 
cepted the situation cheerfully, and entered upon 
his new life with all the energy of youth. He took 
up a tract of land on the east side of the river,'" and, 

'3 In 1802, that portion of the vast country known as the Northwest 
Territory was organized into a State and admitted under the name of Ohio. 
The area is 40,000 square miles, 

'■i Columbus, the capital of Ohio, and seat of justice of Franklin county, 
is situated on the Scioto, ninety miles from its mouth. It is large and popu- 
lous, and surrounded by a beautiful and fertile CDuntry. The location is 
about the centre of the State. 

'^ A beautiful river of Ohio, and one of the largest that intersect the 
State ; rises in Hardin county, near the headwaters of the Miami, flows 
a southeast and south course about 200 miles, and empties into the Ohio. 
Columbus is situated on its east bank. 



JOHN DAVIS. 39 

with the help of his sons, felled the trees and cleared 
the ground, and, in a short time, had a comfortable 
house erected for himself and family. He added to 
his acres, from year to year, and became the owner 
of very considerable real estate. There he prospered 
in worldly affairs ; enjoyed the respect of his neigh- 
bors and friends ; his children were married and given 
in marriage, and settled around him. Mr. Davis 
never held a public office of any kind ; satisfied with 
having shed his blood to establish the government, 
he was content others should fill the public places. 
He died January 25, 1832, at the age of seventy-two. 
His widow survived him nearly a quarter of a cen- 
tury, dying at the home of her son Samuel, June 6, 
185 1, in her eighty-seventh year. John Davis did 
not make application for pension for his Revolution- 
ary services, but it was granted to his widow, a few 
years after his death. The great majority of the 
descendants of John and Ann Davis live in Ohio 
and other Western States, engaged in all branches 
of business and professions. His sons Samuel and 
Joseph still live on the bank of the beautiful 
Scioto, near where their father settled almost 
three-quarters of a century ago, and follow that 
honorable and useful occupation, farming, taught 
them by him, and own part of the ancestral acres. 
They are men of family, and citizens of character 
and standing. 

We have less knowledpfe of the other children of 



40 JOHN DAVIS. 

William and Sarah Da\as. Sarah, the second 
daughter, noted for her intellectual qualities, mar- 
ried Lott Search,'" of Southampton township, and 
was the mother of several children. They lived 
some years on a farm in Warminster township, near 
Davisville, now owned by J. Davis Dufifield," where 
Mrs. Search died more than half a century ago, and 
was buried at Southampton Baptist church.'* The 
family removed to Western New York shortly after 
her death, where the children grew up, some remain- 
ing there and others seeking new homes in the West 
and Northwest. 

William Davis, the fourth child of William and 
Sarah, was brought up to the sea, became captain of a 
vessel, and was lost upon the ocean, leaving a widow 
and two sons, John and William. The latter must 
have followed the occupation of his father, for family 

" The Searches are a reputable family that settled in Southampton many 
years ago. Christopher, a brother of Lott, lived on the Street road a mile 
below Davisville, where his son now resides. Some of the younger branches 
are meeting with success in trade in Philadelphia. The Searches are 
connected with the Mileses, Beanses, et al. 

" Mr. Duffield, a grandson of John Davis, is a descendant of Benjamin 
Duffield, who came to America in 1679. He was educated at the State 
Normal School, Millersville, Pa. ; studied law with G. R. Fo.x, Esq., of 
Norristown, and is now practicing in Philadelphia. He served one cam- 
paign in the Army of the Potomac, during the war of the Rebellion. 

1" Southampton Baptist church, founded in 1732, had its origin in the 
meeting of Keithians held at the house of John Swift from the division 
among Friends down to 1702. It was constituted a separate church in 1745. 
The first meeting house was built about 1732, which has been rebuilt once 
and repaired twice. Its pulpit has been filled by several eminent men, 
and, in its day, was a very powerful church. 



JOHN DAVIS. 41 

tradition tells us, he, too, died at sea. John married 
an estimable widow belonging to a family of high 
standing, removed to the West, and settled at Bucy- 
rus, Crawford county, Ohio. They had six children, 
three sons and three daughters — William, John and 
Charles, Sarah, Frances and Harriet. William mar- 
ried his cousin Margaret, a daughter of his uncle 
William, and had a family of children. He was a 
surgeon in the Federal army in the war of the Re- 
bellion, and died in service. Joshua Davis, the fifth 
son of William and Sarah, removed to Maryland 
about 1800; settled at Ellicott's Upper Mills, and 
commenced farming. He married a lady with a large 
landed estate, and died some years afterward, leaving 
her a widow with two sons. Of the two remaining 
children of William Davis, the elder, Joseph and 
Mary, we have no knowledge. 

John, the second son of John and Ann Davis, ar.d 
grandson of William and Sarah, was born in Sole- 
bury township, Bucks county. Pa., the 7th of August, 
1788. There he spent the first seven years of his 
life. We know little of him at this period. He first 
comes into notice while going to school at the " old 
red school house," on the Street road between Buck- 
ingham and Solebury, where it is crossed by Pid- 
cock's creek. The schoolmaster was Hugh Ross, a 
member of the present Ross family'" of this county, 

'» The Ross family of Bucks is descended from Thomas Ross, born in 
County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1708 ; came to America in 1728 and settled in 



42 JOHN DAVIS. 

and probably an uncle of the late Thomas Ross, of 
Doylestown. Among the scholars were the children 
of an Indian family which lived in the neighborhood 
and carried on basket making. They were among 
the last remnant of the former owners of the county 
that lived in it. He went with his parents to Mary- 
land, and grew up to manhood on the farm at Rock 
Creek meeting house, working eight or nine months 
in the year, and attending the indifferent neighbor- 
hood schools the remainder of the time. Under 
this arrangement boys received but little education, 
and had to rely on private study and reading to 
acquire knowledge. 

At that day farmers' sons were all brought up to 
work, and, as soon as old enough, made to earn their 
own living. At sixteen young Davis began driving 
his father's Conestoga wagon to Baltimore and back. 
This was his first introduction to the great world 
outside the limits of his narrow circle ; but his area 
of experience was shortly enlarged. In 1805, and 
before he was seventeen, his father engaged to move 
a family and their worldly goods to Pittsburg,'^" and 

Wrightstown ; joined the Society of Friends, and married Kesiah Wilkin- 
son, in 1731. He died at the house of Lindley Murray, near York, Eng- 
land, while on a visit there, in 1786. Several members of the family have 
achieved distinction ; Judge John Ross, of the Supreme Court of the State, 
Judge Henry P, Ross, of the Common Pleas, and Thomas Ross, a distin- 
guished lawyer, and served two terms in Congress. 

""> Pittsburg occupies the site of old Fort DuQuesne, at the confluence of 
the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was to this point that George 
Washington made his celebrated journey in the winter of 1753, at the re- 



JOHN DAVIS. V^ 

John was sent to drive the team. The round trip 
occupied sixty days. We have often Hstened, with 
deep interest, to his account of this long and weary 
journey, one which few boys would now be wiHing to 
make at that, or any, age. Much of the country he 
traveled was a wilderness with few settlers, and there 
were long stretches without a human habitation. His 
only companion, besides his horses, was a small dog 
that rode in the w'agon. In the wilds of the Alle- 
ghenies he was almost afraid to walk around his 
team at night, as was his custom. At the regular 
stopping places, where a number of wagons usually 
halted over night, many a wild prank was played, in 
which young Davis, no doubt, bore a full hand. He 
returned home without accident. 

In 1808, at the age of twenty, he bought his time 
of his father, a practice much more common then 
than now, and began to farm for himself. How long 
this was continued we do not know, but not more 
than three or four years. In the meantime he did 
not neglect the cultivation of his mind, nor lose an 
opportunity of supplying the deficiency of his early 
education. He was a constant reader of books and 
other publications of the day. He had great thirst 
for knowledge, and a wonderfully retentive memory 

quest of Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia, to order the French to evacuate 
that country. When the place fell into the hands of the English, the name 
was changed to Fort Pitt and then to Pittsburg. It is the seat of great 
manufacturing establishments and grows rapidly. 



44 JOHN DAVIS. 

enabled him to remember what he read. His favor- 
ite studies were history and American poHtics, and 
in the latter he was exceptionally well informed. 
The latter study he continued to his death. During 
this period he made occasional trips to his native 
county of Bucks to visit his relatives. On one of 
these visits to his uncle, Lott Search, about i8ii or 
1812, he made the acquaintance of Amy Hart, of 
Southampton, the young lady who afterward became 
his wife. The acquaintance, thus formed by acci- 
dent, was cultivated by subsequent visits, and they 
were married the evening of March 13, 1813, in the 
parlor of the old Watts homestead, at Davisville, 
now owned by Chief Justice Mercur,^' of the State 
Supreme Court. The officiating clergyman was 
Thomas B. Montanye," pastor of Southampton Bap- 

2' Ulysses Mercur is the grandson of German immigrants from Klagen- 
furt, Austria, who settled in Lancaster county, Pa., in 1780. His father, 
Henry Mercur, was born there September 20, 1786. He was sent to Vienna 
to be educated at the University, in 1799, and spent eight years there, re- 
turning home in 1807. He witnessed the entry of Napoleon's army into 
Vienna, in 1805. Henry Mercur settled at Towanda in 1809, where he 
married Mary Watts, the loth of September, iSio ; became the father of 
six children, and died there in 1868. Ulysses graduated at Jefferson Col- 
lege, studied law with Edward Overton, and was admitted to the bar, 
where he was a successful practitioner. In 1861 he was appointed Presi- 
dent Judge of the district to fill a vacancy, and was elected for a full term 
the same fall. He was elected to Congress in 1864, and three times re- 
elected. He was elected to the Supreme Bench in 1872, and became Chief 
Justice in 1883, which position he fills with dignity and great ability. He 
married a daughter of General Davis in 1S50, and is the father of five 
children — four sons and one daughter. 

-'' Rev. Thomas B. Montanye was the great-grandson of Count Jean de 



JOHN DAVIS. 45 

tist church. When Mr. M. returned home after the 
wedding his wife presented him a little girl baby, 
born that evening, and which was named, in honor of 
the bride, Amy Hart Montanye. She grew to be a 
beautiful woman, married and became the mother of 
Harman Yerkes," President Judge of the Courts of 
Bucks county. This marriage changed the destiny 
of John Davis, and connected him with some of the 
most influential families in the county. 



la Montaigne, a French Huguenot who settled at New Amsterdam, now 
New York, in 1628, and died in 1661. His son, Jean, Jr., had five children, 
and one of his sons, Benjamin, born in 1745, was the father of Thomas B., 
born in the city of New York, January 29, 1769. He was licensed to 
preach at eighteen ; ordained at nineteen ; first called to Warwick Baptist 
church, Orange county, N. Y., and to Southampton in 1801, where he died 
in 1829. He was Chaplain to Colonel Humphrey's regiment in 1814, war 
with Great Britain. He was an eminent preacher ; is spoken of as 
" that sweet Boanerges," and exerted a wide influence in the Church and 
out of it. Judge Harman Yerkes, Doylestown, is a grandson. 

23 The Yerkes family of Bucks is descended from Harman, or Herman, 
Yerkes, who, with his brother Anthony, came from Germany about 1700 
and settled on the Schuylkill. They were naturalized by Act of Assembly 
in 1729. Harman afterward came to Moreland, Montgomery county. 
Harman, a grandson of the first Harman, settled in Warminster, Bucks 
county. Pa., about 1740, and the present generation comes down through 
two Harmans and one Stephen. Some of the family intermarried with 
the Purdys, of Moreland, and many of the descendants emigrated to New 
York and Michigan. The family have furnished a number of soldiers to 
the military service of the country. The late Judge Yerkes, of Philadel- 
phia, belonged to the Bucks county branch of the family. Harman Yerkes, 
son of Stephen and Amy Yerkes, was born about forty years ago ; was 
brought up on his father's farm in Warminster ; educated at Lawrence- 
ville, N. J. ; studied law with Hon. Thomas Ross, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1865. He served two terms in the State Senate, and was elected 
to the bench in 1883. 



i6 JOHN DAVIS. 

The Hart family, one of whose daughters Mr. Davis 
took to wife, is one of the oldest in the State, and de- 
scended from John Hart,"^ of Witney,'" Oxfordshire, 
England, who was born in 165 1, and came to Pennsyl- 
vania in 1682. He was an eminent, minister among 
Friends. Before leaving England he purchased of 
William Penn a thousand acres, which he located 
upon his arrival ; 500 in Byberry, Philadelphia county, 
and the same quantity in Warminster, Bucks, with an 
allotment of twenty acres in the city. He settled 
on his Byberry tract and lived there until about 1695, 
when he removed to W^arminster, where he died in 
1 7 14. He was an able man and a good preacher. 
He gained considerable distinction in the George 
Keith'" controversy, in 1690-91, whereby a permanent 

■•'^ The Harts are said to be of Irish descent, and in " Irish Pedigrees" 
the stem of the O'Hart family is traced down through a long line of ances- 
tors from Heremon, the seventh son of Milesius of Spain. He and his 
eldest brother, Heber, were, jointly, the first Milesian monarchs of Ireland. 
They were Princes of Tara, and Chiefs of Sligo. "The House of Here- 
mon," writes O'Gallaghan, " from the number of its princes or great 
families, from the multitude of its distinguished characters, as laymen or 
churchmen, and from the extensive territories acquired by those belonging 
to it, etc., was regarded by far as the most illustrious." The armoral 
bearings of the family are : Arms — Gu. A lion passant guardant or, in 
base a human heart argent. Ci-est — A dexter cubit arm holding a flaming 
sword ; all proper. Motto — Fortiter et Fideliter. 

25 Witney, on the Windrush, eight miles northwest of Oxford on the 
site of an old Roman town, was noted in the past for its manufacture of 
blankets. It is a long town with two main streets, with a church at the 
upper end, a portion of it being seven hundred years old. The population 
is about 3,ooQ. 

-"■ George Keith, born in Aberdeen, Scotland, 1638, was a preacher of 



JOHN DAVIS. 47 

division was created in the Society of Friends. He 
left the Society and became a Baptist, in which faith 
he died. John Hart married Susannah, a daughter 
of William and Aurelia Rush," of Byberry, in 1683. 
He was a member of the first Legislative Assembly 
that met in Phi-adelphia, 1683. The Harts of that 
day were likewise connected, by marriage, with the 
families of Crispin'" and Hohne,*' prominent in 
the Province. The descendants of John Hart are 

nt>te and influence among Friends, He came to America before William 
Penn, and had charge of a grammar school in Philadelphia in 1689. While 
residing in that city he began his attacks on the Society of Friends, and by 
1691 he had caused a permanent division. He returned to England, joined 
the Episcopal church, in which he preached until his death. He was a 
man of ability and learning, an acute reasoner, but of overbearing temper. 

-' William Rush, the son of John Rush, who commanded a troop of 
horse in Cromwell's army, married Susannah Lucas, of Harton, Oxford- 
shire, in 1648 ; embraced the principles of the Friends in i66o, and immi- 
grated to Pennsylvania in 1682, Himself and family became Keithians in 
1691 ; joined the Baptists in 1697, and died in 1699. ^^ ^'^^ the ancestor 
of Dr. James Rush, who had his watch and sword. 

2» Eleanor Crispin, whom John Hart, the son of John, Sr., married, 
was a daughter of Silas Crispin, and granddaughter of Thomas Holme, 
^^^illlam Penn's Surveyor General. William Crispin, the father of Silas, 
was the first Surveyor General appointed by Penn, but died in the West 
Indies on his way to Pennsylvania. He married a sister of Admiral Penn's 
wife, the daughter of a Rotterdam merchant. 

■■*" Thomas Holme was appointed to succeed William Crispin as Sur- 
veyor General of Pennsylvania. He had been an officer in the British 
navy, and served with Admiral Penn in the West Indies. He came to 
America in April, 1682, bringing with him his two sons and two daughters, 
and Silas Crispin, the son of his predecessor in office, who married his 
daughter Esther, from which marriage came Eleanor Hart, the great-grand- 
mother of Amy Hart, the wife of John Davis. The two sons of Thomas 
Holme died without issue. 



48 JOHN DAVIS, 

numerous, and scattered over the Middle and South- 
ern States. Several have reached places of dis- 
tinction. 

Among" the Harts of this county, who became 
prominent In their day and g'eneration, were Oliver, 
who settled as pastor over the First Baptist 
church,'" at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1749, and 
where he preached with g'reat success for thirty-one 
years ; Joseph, a leader in Pennsylvania in the Revo- 
lution, who held many important ofBces, civil and 
military, and to whom further reference is made in a 
foot-note ; his son Joseph, a member of the State 
Senate for many years, and an influential man to his 
death. Their sons and grandsons were in the Legis- 
lature, held county offices and commissions in the 
militia, in peace and war. The Hart homestead, in 
Warminster township, was visited by the British 
while they held Philadelphia. The family had gone 
away for safety, leaving an old colored woman, 
named Jean, in charge, and the stock was driven 
into the woods. The red-coats pounded on the 
chests with the butts of their guns and split the lids 
so as to get at the contents, and compelled the af- 

'0 This church was founded by Rev. William Screven, about 1684. The 
constituent members were mostly from England and the Province of 
Maine, who fettled near where Charleston stands about that time. The 
church was established at Summerton, but removed to Charleston in 1693. 
A brick meeting house was built in 1699. Mr. Screven was born in England 
in 1629, and settled at Piscatiway, Maine, whence he removed to South 
Carolina, in 1680. The congregation is still large. 



JOHN DA Via 49 

frighted Jean to hold open the mouth of a bag 
while they filled it with clothing, sheets and blankets. 
The plantation was only a mile from the battle- 
field of the Crooked Billet,''^ and some of the skir- 
mishing took place on it. 

The Watts family, from which the wife of John 
Davis came in the female line, is descended from John 
Watts, born at Leeds, Kent county, England, in 
1661. He was a Baptist minister; settled at Lower 
Dublin, Philadelphia county, in 1686. and married 
Sarah Eaton, Februar)' 23, 1687. He became pastor 
of the Pennepack Baptist church,^"^ in 1690, and died 



^' The Crooked Billet, the present Hatboro, is situated in Montgomery 
county, Pa., half a mile from the Bucks line. The population is about 
T,ooo. A battle was fought here. May i, 1778, between a detachment of 
British troops and American militia under General Lacey. Some of the 
American wounded were burned in buckwheat .straw. 

22 The first Baptist church established in Pennsylvania was at Cold 
Spring, Bucks county, of which Rev. Thomas Dungan, from Rhode Island, 
was pastor. It was organized in 1684, but in 1702 was disbanded. The 
Pennepek church, now in the Twenty-third Ward of Philadelphia, formerly 
called the township of Lower Dublin, is therefore regarded as the oldest 
Baptist church in the Middle Colonies. Its early records are carefully pre- 
served in the handwriting' of the pastors. In 1687 it appears that John 
Eaton, George Eaton and Jane, his wife, Samuel Jones and Sarah Eaton, 
natives of Wales, were settled at Pennepek, and there also came John 
Baker, from Ireland, and Samuel Vans, from England. These were visited 
that year by Elias Keach, son of the famous Benjamin Keach, of London, 
and in November, 1687, Mr. Keach baptized Joseph Ashton and Jane, his 
wife, William Fisher and John Watts. These twelve became a regular 
Baptist church in January, 1688, with Mr. Keach as their pastor. He was 
a brilliant preacher, and traveled extensively in Pennsylvania and New 



50 JOHN DAVIS'. 

there in 1/02, Stephen Watts, the son of John, set- 
tled in Southampton township, in 1734, on a tract of 
one hundred and fifty acres purchased of the Cal- 
lowhill family. The mother of Mrs. Davis was a 
daughter of Arthur Watts, a granddaughter of 
Stephen the elder, and a niece of WilHam Watts, 
several years an Associate Judge of Bucks county, 
Stephen Watts, the son of Stephen, settled in 
Louisiana, in 1774, and one of his daughters mar- 
ried a son of the Spanish Governor, Gayosa,^' whose 
descendants, if any, have been lost sight of. The 
marriage of Mr. Davis also connected him with the 



Jersey, and organized several other cluirche!', which are still in existence. 
He resigned in i68g, and in 1652 returned to London, where he preached 
with great success until October 27, 1699, when he died. Hr. Keach married 
Mary, daughter of Chief Justice Nicholas Moore, and his grandson, John 
Elias Keach Harrison was a member of Southampton church. Lower 
Dublin has had but twenty pastors, viz. : Elias Keach, John Watts, Evan 
Morgan, Samuel Jones, Joseph Wood, Abel Morgan, Jenkin Jones, P. P. 
Vanhorne. Samuel Jones, D. D., Jacob Grigg, Joshua P. Slack, David 
Jones, Jr., James M. Challiss, Thomas Roberts, Richard Lewis, M. D., 
William Hutchinson, Alfred Harris, George Kempton, D. D., William E. 
Cornwell, and Charles Warwick, the present pastor. Her most prominent 
early pastors were Rev, Abel Morgan, author of Cydgordid^ or Concordance 
of the scriptures in Welsh, and Rev. Samuel Jones, D. D., who was asso- 
ciated with Rev, Morgan Edwards and Rev. James Manning, D. D., in or- 
ganizing Rhode Island College, now Brown University. Eight of her 
pastors were natives of Wales, and for many years Pennepek church was 
the point to which Welsh immigrants directed their steps. The name of 
this church was known throughout all America and she was the focus of 
Baptist influence. H. G. j. 

'^'^ Gayosa was the Spanish Governor of Louisiana for several years be- 
fore its transfer to the United States. 



■3^ 



"^ 












X 



.v*" 




JOHN DAVIS 51 

families of Purdy/^ Fohveli;" and Miles/^vith whom 
intimate personal and social relations were main- 
tained as long as he and they lived. 

3* This family is descended from John Purdy, who immigrated Irom Ire- 
land in 1742; settled on the Pennypack, in Moreland township; married 
Grace Dunlap, and died in 1752, leaving a son, William, and two daugh- 
ters. The son married Mary Roney, whose father came from Ireland in 
1735, and served in the Revolutionary army. 

35 The Folwells, one of the most respectable and influential families in 
the county in their day, settled in Southampton more than a century and a 
quarter ago, William F"olwell married a Watts, and their son, William 
Watts, a graduate of the Pennsylvania University, was tendered the Pro- 
fessorship of Literature in that institution, but declined it. He removed to 
Western New York, in 1807, where he died in 1858, at the age of ninety- 
one. He kept alive his interest in letters. His sister, Nancy, was married 
to Joseph Hart, Jr., son of Colonel Joseph Hart, December 25, 1783. 

36 The Miles family came from Philadelphia county to Bucks, Samuel 
lived in Southampton, on the road from Davisville to the Southampton 
Baptist church, and Griffith in Warminster, where his son, Griffith, still 
lives on the homestead. Another brother, William, married Rebecca 
Hart, a sister of Mrs. Davis, and lived and died in Lower Dublin, near 
Bustleton. One of his grandsons, Charles R. Miles, is a Lieutenant in the 
United States navy, and, at this writing, a professor in the Annapolis 
Naval Academv. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Amy Hart, the wife of John Davis, was the daugh- 
ter of Josiali and Nancy Hart, of Southampton, 
Bucks county. Pa., and was born the 20th of June, 
1784. Her father was the fourth son of Joseph Hart, 
a Colonel, and otherwise prominent, in the Revolu- 
tionar}' war, and a very influential citizen in Colonial 
times, and her mother was a daughter of Arthur 
Watts. Her father was born at the Hart family man- 
sion, in Warminster, the 17th of July, 1749, and her 
mother at the Watts homestead, in Southampton,' 
still standing, the 5th of October, 1759. They were 
married, " Januar}- }'e iith, 1776, after being pub- 
lished three Sabbaths," at the Southampton Baptist 
church. 

Josiah Hart was the father of six children, one 
son and five daughters. Amy was the fourth child, 
and the son, William Watts, the youngest. Frances, 
the youngest daughter, died at the age of two years. 
Of the other daughters, Sarah, the eldest, married 
William Shelmire, Elizabeth, Arthur Yerkes, and 



' Southampton, a town.ship of Bucks county, adjoins Warminster on 
the southeast. It was amonjj; the first settled and organized, and the 
land was general!)- taken up by 1684. For some years it and Warminster 
elected but one set of township officers. 



JOHN DAVI>i. o3 

Rebecca, William Miles. They all left numerous 
descendants. William Watts Hart,- the only son of 
Josiah and Nancy, was born the 2d of January, 1790. 
He was intended for the bar, and was educated, for 
this purpose, at Doylestown and Philadelphia, and 
studied law with Enos Morris,''' at Newtown. He 
was admitted to practice, June 3, 181 3, and settled 
at Doylestown, whither the county seat was removed 
that year. Before and after his admission to the 
bar, Mr. Hart held public office. He was appointed 
Deputy Register of the county in 18 10, Deputy 
Prothonotary in 181 i, and Clerk of the Orphans' 
Court the 28th of February, 18 14. When the British 
threatened Philadelphia, in the summer of 18 14, he 
.enlisted in the company of Captain William Magill," 
of Doylestown, and was elected First Lieutenant, and 
when Colonel Humphrey's regiment of riflemen was 
organized, he was appointed Adjutant. He settled 
down to the practice of law, at Doylestown, when 



2 Enos Morris, the son of Benjamin, was descended from Thomas Mor- 
ris, who settled in Hilltown township, Bucks county, Pa., about 1722. He 
learned his father's trade, clockmaking, but afterward studied law with 
Judge John Ross, at Easton, and was admitted to the bar about 1800. He 
settled at Newtown, where he died. He was an active Baptist. 

3 William Magill, a resident of Doylestown, was the son of Robert Magill, 
and was born in Doylestown. He owned the tavern property at State 
and Main streets, long since converted to other uses, and at one time kept 
it. The uniforms for his company were made in the court house, by the 
young ladies of the town and vicinity. The Rev. Hugh Magill was pastor 
of Deep Run church in 1772. 



54 JOHN DAVIS. 

mustered out of service, and died there Februar}^ 
24, 181 5, at the age of twenty-five. He was a young- 
man of much promise, and his death was a great 
affliction to the family." 

Josiah Hart was a friend of the Colonies in the Revo- 
lutionary struggle, and, at one time, commanded a 
company of Philadelphia "Associators," but we do not 
know that he saw any service in the field. He spent 
the first twenty years of his married life at the mill 
on the Pennypack.' in Moreland township, Mont- 
gomery county," Pa., given him by his father, the 
deed bearing date the 9th of April, 1777, fifteen 
months after his marriage. In more recent years 



^ The death of Mr. Hart took place under painful circumstances. His 
friend, John Ledley Dick, was seized with typhus fever, and he nursed 
him until his death, February i8, 1815. The day he died he had occasion to 
write to his brother-in-law, Mr. Davis, and spoke of this death as follows : 
" My friend, John L, Dick, died to-day at 2 o'clock, p. m., of typhus 
fever. How frail is man ! Ten days ago he was in the vigor of health. 
Alas 1 how visionary our hopes of earthly happiness ; but two months 
since he married Miss Erwin, the daughter of the richest man in the 
coujty. How soon their fondest anticipations of future bliss and domestic 
felicity were destroyed." In a few- days he followed his friend Dick 
to the grave, and shortly his mother, sister and cousin all died of the dis- 
ease, in the same house, still standing, in Doylestown. 

5 The Pennypack is a small stream that rises in Warminster. Bucks, 
and Moreland township, Montgomery, and forming a portion of the 
southwestern boundary between Bucks and Philadelphia, empties into the 
Delaware. 

^ Montgomery county was pari of Philadelphia until 17S4, when it was 
laid off and organized. The Schuylkill river runs near its southwestern 
border, and Bucks and Lehigh bounds it on the northeast. It is populous 
and rich, and Norristown is its capital. 



JOHN DAVIS. 55 

it was known as " Hallowell's mill,"' but we do not 
know the name of the present owner. Josiah Hart 
probably moved to the mill immediately after his 
marriage. He sold the property to John Shelmire, 
of Horsham township," Montgomery county, in 1795, 
and removed to the saw mill farm, in Southampton, 
Bucks, owned by his father-in-law. There he lived 
until his death, the 25th of October, 1800, at the 
early age of fifty-one. At the death of Arthur 
Watts, this farm was left by will, dated October 16, 
1809, to his daughter, Mrs. Hart. Fifteen acres of 
it lay over the township line, in Warminster." It has 
never been out of the family since its first purchase 
from the Callowhills,'" in 1734, the present owner 



' William Hallowell was a physician of Moreland, Montgomery, fifty 
years ago, and practiced according to the " Thompsonian" school of medi- 
cine. He was a member of an old and inluential family of that name in 
that county. 

*> A township of Montgomery, joining Moreland on the northwest, and 
was principally settled by the Society of Friends. 

" A township of Bucks county, Pa., bounded by the Montgomery county 
line on the southwest. It was organized in 1690, and has an area of 6,000 
acres. It is rectangular in .shape, with a level surface, and is remarkable 
for never having had a flour mill in it. 

"> Thomas Call whill, the father-in-law of William Penn by his 
second marriage, had 417 acres surveyed to him, April 20, 1705, in the upper 
part of Southampton, bounded by the Street road and Warminster line, 
and covering the site of Davisville. John Thomas and Richard Penn in- 
herited this tract from their grandfather. The land of John Morris 
bounded it on the southwest. 



66 JOHN DAVrS. 

being J. Davis Duffield, a great-grandson of Mrs, 
Hart. 

John Davis settled in Southampton the spring 
of his marriage, 1813, and resided in the same 
neighborhood, within rifle shot of his first location, 
the remainder of his long and active life, sixty-five 
years. At first he rented his mother-in-law's farm, 
but after her death, in 18 15, and his wife became 
one of the heirs, he took it at the valuation placed 
upon it by the Orphans' Court appraisers. The land 
was then poor, for the new methods of cultivation 
had not yet been adopted, but, by careful tillage 
and the use of manures, it gradually became pro- 
ductive and yielded good crops. Mr. Davis took a 
prominent position in business and social life imme- 
diately he settled in Southampton, and maintained 
it as long as he lived ; but it was no more than his 
energy, his intelligence and high character entitled 
him to. His influence increased with time, until 
he became one of the most prominent citizens of the 
State. 

The war with England was in full blast when Mr. 
Davis settled in Southampton, and he was soon af- 
forded an opportunity of exhibiting his public spirit 
and patriotism. The capture of Washington and the 
burning of the public building, the attack on Balti- 
more, and demonstration against Philadelphia, aroused 
this section of country. They found Mr. Davis occu- 



JOHN DAVIS. 57 

pied with his farm and mill and the cares of a younij 
family, but he did not hesitate to lay aside the im- 
plements of peace to take up the weapons of war. 
When the call was made for volunteers to defend 
Philadelphia, he was one of the first in the county 
to respond. Information of the burnin<; of the capi- 
tol reached Bucks county, Saturday, August 27, 1814, 
two days after the event, and the following Thurs- 
day, a meeting was held at Hart's Cross Roads, now 
Hartsville," to raise volunteers to take the field. 
Here it was resolved "to organize and march forth- 
with to meet the enemy." William Watts Hart, his 
w^ife's brother, was probably at the meeting, for the 
original roll of the company,'* now in possession of 
the author, is in his handwriting. The name of 
John Davis heads the roll, and among the signers 
are five Harts, cousins of Mrs. Davis. The com- 
pany was full before night, when the members pro- 



" Hartsville, a well-situated vil!a;je near Neshaminy creek, lies partly 
in Warminster and partly in Warwick township, at the junction of the 
York and Bristol roads, twenty miles from Philadelphia. It was the seat 
of the Log college, and for many years was noted for its schools, which 
turned out a number of distinguished scholars. The Continental army 
encamped several days in its vicinity, in August, 1777. 

12 The following is a copy of the original muster roll : " The sub- 
scribers do hereby agree to form themselves into a corps of riflemen, to 
organize immediately, offer their services to the Governor of Pennsylvania, 
and march forthwith to meet the enemy, agreeably to the recommendation 
contained in the Governor's general orders of the 27th inst. And it is fur- 
ther agreed, that if rifles cannot be procured, the corps will accept muskets 



ot^ 



JOHX DAVIS. 



ceeded to the election of officers, as follows : Cap- 
tain, William Purely ;" First Lieutenant, Samuel 
Daniels ;'* Second Lieutenant, James Horner,'^ and 

and act in the capadty of either riflemen or infantry until rifles can be had, 

August 30, 1814 
John Davis, Benjamin Corson, Samuel Young, 

Samuel Hart, Barnet Slack, Joseph Orem, 

John Crawford, Charles Webster, John Gill, 

Lewis F. Hart, Watson Robinson, \Mlliam Long, 

Aaron Bennet, " James Rogers, Ezekiel Wilson, 

Samuel Daniel, Lewis Scout, Lot Search, 

John Kirkpatrick, William Purdy, Samuel Leedom, 

Ashfordby Jones, Thomas Coughlin, Abraham Shelmire, 

Joseph Carrell, Daniel Roberts, Andrew Yerkes, 

Cieorge Bennet, John Baird, William Vansant, 

James Brown, William Hart, Benjamin Thomas, 

Josiah H. Wood, Andrew Scott, Isaac VanBuskirk, 

William Vanhorn, William Daniels, William Riddles, 

Lemen Banes, John M. Craven, David Dougherty, 

Samuel McDowell, James Horner, William Silvy, 

Wilhelmus Vansant, Benjamin Bready, Malacai Tyson, 

James T, Search, Joseph Carr, John Hart, Jr., 

John Wells, Jesse Washman, David Jones, 

Thomas Neal, Henry Darrah, John Bothwell, 

Joseph Silvy, William Hart, Jr., James Polk, Jr. 

William Harvey, 

'^ William Purdy was the grandson of the John Purdy previously men- 
tioned. He married Mary Folwell, daughter of William Folwell, of South- 
ampton, and died in Doylestown, in 1S34. He was a prominent citizen ; 
was three times elected to the Assembly, and was Prothonotary of the 
Court of Common Pleas. His son Thomas, and grandson John, father 
and son, were elected Sheriff of the county, the former in 1842, and the 
latter in 1872, The name is Anglo-Irish, and is thought to be a modifica- 
tion of Pardew, Pardee, or Pardoe, and is more common in England and 
Scotland than in Ireland. 

" Lived in Warminster, and, while the author remembers him, he 
knows nothing of his history. He was a man of brains and well-informed. 

's The Homers, an old Scotch-Irish family, settled in Allen township, 



JOHN DAVIS. 59 

Ensign, John Davis. Samuel Hart '" was appointed 
Orderly Sergeant. The company met for drill the 
following Saturday, September 3d, in a field on the 
farm of John Shelmire, of Warminster, on the road 
that runs from the present Johnsville " to the Bristol 
road.'" Here the organization of the company was 
completed by the Brigade Inspector, Harman Van- 
then on the northwest frontier of Bucks county, but now in Northampton. 
They were there before 1746, when James Horner signed a petition to or- 
ganize the township. The family suffered from the Indians, and subse- 
quently removed to Warminster township, Bucks county, where John lived 
on the York road, a mile below Hartsville. He was probably the 
son of James. We do not know when he settled in Warminster, but he 
died there in i8o5, at the age of fifty-nine years. He had six children — 
two sons, John and James, and four daughters. John bought a farm at 
what is now Davisville, bui removed to Mercer county, Pa., forty years ago, 
and died there. James was a farmer of Warwick township. The daughters 
married John Ruckman, John Hart, Jacob Shelmire and Charles Vansant, 
and left numerous descendants. 

•' Samuel Hart belonged to a Scotch-Irish family, of Plumstead, where 
he was born. Two members of the family, William and Samuel 
Hart, were present at the capture and death of Moses Doane, in Plumstead, 
in 1783, and William carried the body of the dead outlaw to his dwelling 
and laid it on the kitchen floor until morning, when he sent it to his un- 
happy father. Our Samuel Hart was Associate Judge of the courts of the 
county several years. He was the grandfather of John and Frank Hart, 
bankers, Doylestown, and was an excellent man and citizen. 

1' A small village in Warminster township, named by John Craven, 
from his Christian name, Johnsville. He kept store there half a century ago. 
His son, William L. Craven, is now a real estate agent in Philadelphia. 

i» A road laid out on a northwest line, projected by Penn, between 1724 
and 1772, and bounds the townships of Southampton, Warminster, War- 
wick, Warrington and Northampton. The first jury was on it in April, 
1724. It was called Bristol road because it was one of the early tra\eled 
roads to that place. 



60 JOHN DAVIS. 

sant/" and ordered to march on Monday morning. 
Monday, the 5th of September, 18 14, was an im- 
portant day in that section of the county, and one of 
unusual excitement. Early in the morning Captain 
Purdy's " Bucks County Riflemen " and Captain 
Christopher Vanartsdalen's^" militia company, from 
Newtown, met at what was then Foster's Corner, 
now Southampton, at the intersection of the Street" 
and Middle roads, ^^ a mile below Davisville, in 
Southampton township, whence they were to start 
for Philadelphia. A large concourse of neighbors 
and friends had assembled to witness the departure 



'* Harman Vansant was of Dutch ancestry, which came from Long 
Island with other Holland families. He lived in Warminster, near the 
present Johnsville. He was elected Brigadier-General after filling the 
office of Brigade Inspector, and died September 13, 1823, aged sixty-seven. 

2" Christopher Vanartsdalen was a descendant of Simon, son of John 
Von Arsdalen, of Ars Dale, Holland, who immigrated to America in 1653, 
and settled at Flat Bush, Long Island, whence his great-grandsons, Nicho- 
las and John, came to Bucks county and settled in Southampton. 

-' Like the Bristol road the Street road through Bensalem, Southamp- 
ton, Warminster and Warrington, was laid out on one of William Penn's 
northwest lines, and at various times ; the first section, from the Delaware 
to the Bristol turnpike, in 1696. The whole route of the road vi^as resur- 
veyed in 1794, and confirmed thirty-three feet wide from Warrington to 
Bensalem. 

22 The road from Philadelphia to Oxford, the first link in the Middle 
road, was granted about 1693. Some years afterward it was extended to 
the Delaware, at Yardleyville, via Newtown. It was next opened up to the 
Anchor tavern from what is now Richborough, to intersect the Durham 
road. In 1803 it was resurveyed from Newtown to the Montgomery line, 
eight and a half miles. It was called the "Middle road" because it lay 
about midway between the road that led to Trenton ferry and the York 
that led to Well's ferry at New Hope. 



JOHN DAVIS. 61 

of these young men for what was thought to be *' the 
seat of war." The meethig took place in a wood, 
long since cut down, at the northwest angle of the 
cross roads, and the Rev. Thomas B. Montanye, pas- 
tor of the Southampton Baptist church, preached an 
appropriate discourse. It was an equally trying 
time for the officers and men who left for camp and 
their families and friends who stayed behind. The 
two companies were conveyed in wagons to Frank- 
ford,"' whence they marched into Philadelphia. 

As the companies of Captains Purdy and Vanarts- 
dalen were the first to reach I'hiladelphia, after the 
call for troops, their arrival created quite a sensation, 
and they received an ovation as they marched 
through the streets. As there was no time to arm 
and equip the rifle company before leaving home, 
the men marched in their ordinary clothes, and their 
uniforms were procured in the city. Seventy young 
ladies, who volunteered for the occasion, met in 
Masonic Hall and made them up in a day. Their 
nimble fingers were never more active than in this 
patriotic work. The uniforms were hunting-shirts 
and overalls, much in fashion then, worn over the 
ordinary clothes, with hat and feather. They were 



2^ A suburb of Philadelphia, but within the limits of the consolidated 
city. A continuous street of houses connects it with the city proper. In 
1814 Frankford was about three miles from the city. When the British 
occupied Philadelphia, in 1777-8, the picket lines between the two armies 
ran through Frankford. 



62 JOHN DAVIS. 

armed with heavy rifles. Captain Purdy's was the 
Ninth Company of the First Regiment, Pennsylvania 
Volunteer Riflemen, commanded by Colonel Thomas 
Humphrey.^^ This was a splendid body of men, from 
Bucks, Montgomery and adjoining counties, with 
many representatives of the best families in each 
company. William Watts,''^ uncle to Mrs. Davis, was 
the second Major of the regiment, and William Watts 
Hart, his nephew, and brother to Mrs. D., was the 
Adjutant. The regiment went into camp at Bush 
Hill, near the city, and lay there several weeks 
for drill and discipline; and where they were visited 
by many friends from the country. Among the 
hospitable dwellings, open to the soldiers from Bucks 
county, was that of David and Hannah Kelley, 



■^•i Thomas Humphrey, the son of Thomas and Sarah, was born in 
Montgomery county, near the Bucks border, January 8, 1774. He was 
brought up on a farm. He married Euphemia, the second daughter of 
John and Rebecca Hart, of Bucks county, the 15th of March, 1798. They 
had three children, and, among the descendants, are the Wentzes of Nor- 
ristown. Pa,, from the marriage of Eliza, the eldest daughter, with Samuel 
Wentz. After the War of 1812-15, he was elected Major-General of the 
division ; and died October 3, 1822. 

■2b William Watts was the son of Arthur Watts, of Southampton, and 
brother of Nancy Hart, wife of Josiah Hart. He was a descendant of 
John Watts, born at Leeds, Kent county, England, who settled at Lcwer 
Dublin, Philadelphia, in 1686, and married Sally Eaton, in 1687. He was 
pastor of the Pennypack Baptist church several years, and died in 1702. 
William Watts was a prominent citizen of Bucks, was many years Pro- 
thonotary and Clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions, and afterward 
Associate Judge of the Common Pleas. He died at Doylestown in 1834. 



JOHN BAVIS. ra 

the parents of Hon. William D. Kelley,'^* and where 
Ensign Davis was a frequent visitor. Mrs. Kelley 
was a Darrah," from Bucks county, and he a Jersey- 
man, who came across the Delaware in search of a 
good wife, and found one. 

Colonel Humphrey's regiment formed part of the 
advance Light Brigade, commanded by Brigadier- 
General Thomas Cadwallader," 3,504 strong. It was 



^« William D. Kelley was born in Philadelphia, April 12, 1814. After 
obtaining a good education he became a proof-reader in a printing office, 
and then learned the trade of a jeweler, which he followed for five years. 
He next studied law, and was admitted to the bar ; was elected Prosecuting 
Attorney of Philadelphia, and afterward served ten years as Judge of the 
Common Pleas. He has been twenty-five years in Congress, and is con- 
sidered the " Father of the House." He is a very efficient member, and 
stands high in the councils of his party. 

2' Thomas Darrah settled in Horsham, Montgomery county, then Phila- 
delphia, about 1725, but removed to Bedminster a few years afterward, and 
died in 1750, leaving five sons, three daughters and eight hundred acres. 
Henry, the third son, married Ann Jamison, and removed to New Britain 
township, now in the upper end of Warrington. He served several tours 
of duty under General Lacey, and died in 1782, of cold contracted in ser- 
vice, and was buried at Deep Run. We do not know when the family came 
into Warminster, but Rachel was the first buried at Neshaminy church, in 
1802, at the age of forty-one. Mrs. Kelley was the daughter of William 
Darrah, and granddaughter of Thomas the elder. One of her sisters was 
the mother of the late General Samuel A. Smith, and another the mother 
of the late Captain Thompson D. Shaw, U. S. N. The sons of this 
family served in the French and Indian war, the Revolution, War of 1812-15, 
and the Rebellion. 

SI* Thomas Cadwallader, the son of General John Cadwallader, of 
Philadelphia, was born October 28, 1779, and died October 26, 1841. He 
applied for a commission in the army when war was threatened with 
France during John Adams' administration, but troops were not called out. 
Hewasin the \\'estern Expedition in 1799. He studied lawand wasadmitted 



64 JOHN DAVIS. 

in the field three months, the term of their enh'st- 
ment. While they did not come in contact with 
the enemy, they encountered the other vicissitudes 
inseparable from a military life in reach of danger ; 
in which are included care, watchfulness, solicitude, 
and exposure to storms An authority on this cam- 
paign says : " Cold rains, one of which lasted for 
nine days almost without intermission from the 
northwest, were not unfrequent. Storms of wind 
and rain at night sometimes blew away entire tents, 
and left their sleeping inhabitants without a shelter 
from the blasts ; at other times the prostrate tents 
suddenly wrapped in their watery folds the slumber- 
ing tenants, who, with difficulty, extricated them- 
selves from the cold adhesive sheets, without a single 
change of clothes that had escaped the drenching of 
the falling torrents. Toward the close of the cam- 
paign the ground was frozen so hard as to render it 
impossible to drive tent pins, and the degree of suf- 
fering experienced by many of our patriot fellow- 
soldiers, who left their distant homes in warm 
weather, and who had not been supplied with winter 
clothing, was by no means inconsiderable." 

The following letter, written by Adjutant Hart to 



to the bar in 1801. He was a careful student of military affairs. When 
the War of 1812 broke out he was elected Captain, then Colonel of 
a volunteer regiment, and in 1814 he commanded the advance Light 
Brigade on the Delaware, .\fter the war he was made Major-General of 
the First Division. 



JOHN DAVIS. 85 

his mother, from Camp Dupont," dated November 
17th, 1814, confirms what is said above of the in- 
clemency of the weather and suffering among the 
troops. They who think fighting battles makes up 
the sum total of the hardships and dangers of a 
soldier's life, know but little about it. Adjutant Hart 
writes : 

"We left Bush Hill"" on Wednesday, the 2d of 
November, and encamped that night at Darby ;" 
struck our tents about sunrise and marched eleven 
miles through a violent rain ; encamped in the after- 
noon a little below Chester,'^ all completely wet. We 
procured, however, a good supply of wood and 
straw, and passed a comfortable night. The rain 
continued without intermission the next day, 
and part of Saturday. In the afternoon it became 
clear. On Sunday morning, about nine o'clock, we 
struck our tents and resumed our march ; arrived at 
Wilmington'^ in the evening, where the troops were 
quartered in the academy, court house and meeting 

2" Camp Dupont was on the Christiana creek, near Wilmington, in 
Delaware, and named after the DuPont family which owned extensive 
powder works there. 

^o Bush Hill is now within the built-up portion of Philadelphia, in the 
northwest section, north of the Schuylkill. 

3' A small town in Delaware county, Pa., on the road to Wilmington, 
Delaware. 

32 On the Delaware river, in Delaware county; Pa. ; formerly the county 
seat ; is a large and flourishing town with several industrial establishments^ 
including an extensive shipyard. Here William Penn first landed on 
coming to Pennsylvania, and here the first court was held in the Province, 
It is fifteen miles southwest of Philadelphia. 

33 Wilmington, the largest city in Delaware, is situated on Christiana 



66 JOHX DAVIS. 

house. During the last few miles of our march we 
were again exposed to rain. The same evening of 
our arrival at Wilmington I rode five miles to Camp 
Dupont to report our arrival to General Cadwallader. 
The rain continued on Monday, and on Wednesday 
morning we marched and arrived at this place in the 
afternoon." 

The campaign on the lower Delaware closed when 
the danger, which brought the troops into the field, 
was passed. The Light Brigade broke up its en- 
campment at Dupont the morning of November 
30th, and marched into Wilmington that evening, 
where it was joined by the detachment from New 
Castle.'' The whole left Wilmington and reached 
Chester the next day, and early in the afternoon of 
F'riday, December 2d, entered Philadelphia. The 
author of "A Brief Sketch of the Military Operations 
on the Delaware," says of the entry of these troops 
into the city : " Such a sight, as the march of a body 
of 3,000 well-disciplined and uniformed soldiers, with 
all their baggage and munitions of war, had not been 
witnessed since the period of the Revolution, and it 
may safely be said that a more proud and joyous 



creek, two miles from the Delaware and twenty-eight southwest of Phila- 
delphia. The population is about 50,000, and it contains many manufac- 
turing establishments. 

3< New Castle is a borough and a port of entry in county of same name, 
Delaware, on the Delaware river, five miles east of Wilmington. The 
population is about 2,500. It has several industrial establishments, and 
contains a court house, jail, bank, public library and several churches. 



JOHN DAVIS. 67 

day was never before experienced by the inhabitants 
of Philadelphia." 

The brigade was not dismissed from the service 
of the United States immediately after its return, 
but was held subject to future orders. The troops 
were mustered, inspected and discharged at 
various dates between the 5th of December, 18 14, 
and the 3d of January, 1815, Colonel Humphrey's 
regiment being mustered out the 12th of December. 
It was related to the author, by an of^cer who served 
in the Rifles, that as the troops marched into Phila- 
delphia they were viewed by the British General 
Riair** and staff, taken at the battle of Lundy's Lane, 
Canada. The infantry and other corps, favorites 
of the spectators, did not impress the English offi- 
cers, but when the riflemen came along General 
Riall remarked, " These are the troops we most 
dread." Although this fine body of troops did not 
meet the enemy, they were in constant expectation 
of it. When the troops were mustered out they 



3^ The battle of Niagara, or Lundy's Lane, as it is generally called, 
where General Riall, the British commander, and his entire staff were 
made prisoners, was one of the severest of the War of 1812-15. It was 
fought the evening of July 25, 1814, on the Canadian side of the Niagara 
river, in sight of the Falls. The American army was commanded by 
Scott and Brown, and both were wounded. It was at this battle Colonel 
Miller, when ordered to take his regiment and storm a battery, made the 
memorable reply, " I'll try, sir," and he tried successfully. 



68 JOHN DAVIS. 

wended their respective ways to their homes, where 
they were received with joy. The commission of 
Ensign Davis bears date the 5th of September, 18 14, 
but he was not mustered into service until a few 
days afterward. His regiment, as we have already 
seen, was not mustered out until the 12th of Decem- 
ber, probably just three months from the time it was 
mustered in ; nevertheless, his discharge bears date 
the 5th, and reads as follows : 

"Camp Boileau,"'' December 5, 1814. 
" Ensign John Davis, of the Ninth Company, be- 
longing to the First Regiment, Pennsylvania Rifle- 
men, is hereby discharged from the service of the 
United States, by order of Major-General Gaines," 
he having completed his tour of three months for 
which he volunteered, with honor; and I return him 
my sincere thanks for his due attention to orders, 



30 In the vicinity of Philadelphia, where the troops that served on the 
Delaware, in 1814, were mustered out of service. It was named for 
Nathaniel B. Boileau, of Montgomery county, Pa., Secretary of the Com- 
monwealth under Governor Snyder. Mr. Boileau assisted John Fitch in 
making the machinery for his steamboat that was floated on the Watts 
mill dam, Southampton, about 1785. 

3' Edmund Pendleton Gaines was born in Virginia, in 1777, and died in 
1849. He entered the United States army, in 1799, as Ensign, and after 
rendering valuable service resigned, in 181 1, with a view of practicing law ; 
but re-entered the army when the war with England broke out. He played 
a distinguished part, rose to the rank of Major-General, and received the 
thanks of Congress and a gold medal. 



JOHN DAVIS. 69 

and his able assistance to me through the whole 
tour. [Signed,] WILLIAM PURDY, 

"Capt. N. C, Lst R. P. V. R." 

Ensign Davis returned immediately to his home 
in Southampton, with his Captain's high commenda- 
tion in his pocket, and resumed the peaceful pursuits 
of private life. As the war closed soon afterward, 
he had no further opportunity to take up arms in 
defense of his country. His brief experience in the 
field having developed a strong taste for military af- 
fairs, he shortly entered the volunteer militia, be- 
came active therein, and was in constant commission 
thirty-four years, when advancing age warned him to 

" Hang up his arms as bruised monuments " 

and to turn over the martial baton to younger men. 
During that period he held, in succession, the com- 
missions of Captain, Brigade Inspector, with the 
rank of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel, and 
was three times elected Major-General of the divi- 
sion composed of the counties of Bucks and Mont- 
gomery. The flourishing condition of military affairs 
in Bucks county during that period was largely due 
to his activity and energy, and love for the profession 
of arms. 

The first military venture of Ensign Davis, in the 
volunteer militia, after his return from camp, was in 
the spring of 1815, when he organized a company 



70 



JOHN DAVIS. 



called the "Alert Rifles,'"' of which he was elected 
Captain. Many of the members had served with 
him, under Captain Purdy, in the campaign of 1814, 
and were mostly young farmers of Southampton 
and adjoining townships ; were strong and agile and 



3s The following is a copy of the muster roll of the Alert Rifle Company, 
attached to the First Regiment Bucks County Volunteers, commanded by 
Captain John Davis, about 1820 : 



Capt, John Davis, 
ist Lieut., Isaac Prall, 
2d " Archibald Banes. 

MUSIC. 

John B. VanBuskirk, 
Simon V, Lefferts, 
Jacob J. Larzelere, 
Charles Prior, [land, 
I St Sergt., Wm. Hoge- 
2d, Horatia G. Yerkes, 
3d, JohnVanartsdalen, 
4th, Wm. Longstreth, 
Joseph Carrell, 
Henry Gill, 
John Horner, 
Chris. Krevvson, Sr. , 
John Jones, 
H. K. Vanartsdalen, 
George Merrick, 
Isaac VanBuskirk, 
Thomas Hart, 
Charles Hoffman, 
Miles Addis, 
James Barkley, 
William Miles, 
Garret Brown, 
Ezekial Everit, 
Chris. Krevvson, Jr., 



Elias Lewis, 
Samuel Montanye, 
Enos Tomlinson, 
Thomas Randall, 
Langhorn Ervin, 
Joseph Sexton, 
Jonathan Delany, 
Thomas Neal, 
Samuel Leedom, 
John Gill, 
Mathias Kiple, 
Lewis F. Hart, 
John Leedom, 
George S. Rutherford, 
Henry Krevvson, 
Robert Willard, 
George Willett, 
William Craven, 
David Dungan, 
Elias Yerkes, 
Peter Logan, 
Charles Roberts, 
Leffert Willard, 
Daniel Dunlap, 
John Wildonger, 
Adrian Krewson, 
Derrick H. Buckalew, 
Isaac Mason, 



Isreal Krewson, 
Jacob Bennet, 
Charles Dungan, 
John Vanhorn, 
Jacob Johnson, 
Peter Folwell, 
Isaac Willard, 
James Travis, 
John Daniels, 
Benjamin Bennet, 
John McDowell, 
George Logan, 
Abraham Randall, 
Asher Bennet, 
Joseph F. Cooper, 
Yardley Plunket, 
Amos Jolly, 
Charles Reeder, 
Adam McElhaney, 
David Krewson, 
Benjamin Fenton, 
Abm. Worthington, 
John Lewis, 
Joseph Parker, 
Thomas Roberts, 
William Chambers, 
James Twining, 
William Mavberrv, 



JOHN DAVLS. 71 

full of military spirit. Captain Davis was a great 
favorite with his men, and at that early day was 
recognized as an officer of capacity. Governor 
Snyder^' commissioned him " as of the first day of 
August, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen," 
so as to cover his service in the field. The company 
was uniformed in dark hunting shirts and overalls, 
trimmed with green or orange fringe, and made a 
striking appearance when assembled for drill. They 
frequently met in a field, at the present Davisville, 
when the martial exercises were terminated by what 
was then styled the " Indian ramble," a movement 
not put down in modern tactics. Mr. S. D. Ander- 
son,"" a neighbor, then a boy, who witnessed this 
drill, thus describes it : 

'' The company was formed in single file, and the 
Captain, placing himself at the head of the men, be- 
gan the movement in a slow step. This was gradu- 



^^ Simon Snyder, Governor of Pennsylvania, under the Constitution of 
of 1790, son of Anthony Snyder, a German immigrant, was born at Lan- 
caster, the 5th of November, 1759. By study and energy he raised himself 
from the humblest position, .-^fter serving in the Constitutional Conven- 
tion of 1790, and in the Legislature, of which he was Speaker, he was 
elected Governor in 1808, and re-elected in 181 1 and 1814. He retired 
from office in 1817, and died in i8ig. 

*" Stephen Decatur Anderson was the son of James Anderson, and born 
in Northampton township, Bucks county. Pa., about 181Q. He settled in 
Philadelphia in early manhood, where he still resides. He has held several 
public trusts ; represented the city in the Legislature, was one of the editors 
of T/te Age, and spent many years of his life in journalism. Mr. Anderson 
is a gentleman of extensive reading, and broad views on all subjects. 



72 JOHN DAVIS. 

ally increased until the pace became a swift run. At 
the same time the Captain moved in a sinuous 
course, and the men followed, giving the Indian yell 
with the full strength of their lungs. When the 
proper moment arrived, the movement was termin- 
ated and the company dismissed. The sight was 
intensely interesting, and, when the surroundings are 
taken into consideration, an evening drill of the 
riflemen under Captain John Davis is not likely to 
be erased from memory." 



CHAPTER V. 

Notwithstanding the prevailing sentiment of the 
Friends was against it, there was a military spirit in 
Bucks county from an early day ; and when the 
frontiers were raided by Indians her citizens turned 
out to defend them. Her volunteers were the first 
to go to the rescue of Bethlehem and neighboring 
settlements in 1755 ; Captain Wilson's company, 
sixty strong, being the first to march, the last of 
November, and followed by Captains Asten and 
Wayne, in December. In the French and Indian 
war nine volunteer companies, of 540 men, were or- 
ganized in Bucks, some of which were ordered for 
service on the frontiers. In November, 1763, several 
companies of mounted volunteers from this county 
arrived at the Crown Inn, now South Bethlehem, to 
protect the frontiers from Indians. The volunteers 
and militia of Bucks made an honorable record in 
the Revolution, which they maintained in subse- 
quent wars. In the Whiskey Insurrection, 1790, 
Joseph Hart commanded a regiment from Bucks. 
In 1800 the county had four regiments of organized 
militia, in a brigade, commanded by Augustin Wil- 
lett,' who had been an officer in the Revolution. 

• Augustin Willett, descended from Dutch ancestry from Lonjj Island, 



74 JOHX DAVIS. 

The first mention of a volunteer company in 
Bucks, after the Revolution, was in 1788, when " the 
Montgomery and Bucks county troops of dragoons" 
were present in Philadelphia on the 4th of July, to 
Celebrate the adoption of the Federal Constitution, 
When Washington returned south from New York, 
in the fall of 1797., he was met at the crossing of the 
Delaware, where Morrisville stands, by Captain 
Clunn's" company of artillery, and Captain Gibbs' ^ 
troop of horse, the latter escorting him to the Phila- 
delphia county line. In 1801, William Rodman^ 

which settled in Bensalem, was a man of note in his day. He voluntarily 
took the oath of allegiance in 1778, and served in the field in the Revolu- 
tion. He was prominent in military affairs after the war ; was Lieutenant 
of the county in 1791 ; Captain of the Bucks County Light Dragoons in 
1793 ; was Brigade Inspector several years ; was Brigade Major of General 
Murray's brigade of militia in the Western Expedition, in 1798, and was 
commissioned Brigadier-General in 1800. In 1797 he commanded the 
troops which received Washington on crossing the Delaware, on his way 
south, and escorted him to the Philadelphia county line. 

^ We know but little of Joseph Clunn. He was a citizen of Bristol and 
born about 1745. In 1806 he commanded the Fifteenth Militia Regiment. 
The following year, when the Chesapeake was fired upon, he invited the 
patriotic citizens of Bristol, between forty-five and seventy, to enroll them- 
selves as a reserve guard, to be called "The Republican Grays of Bucks 
County," whose services were to be offered to the President. Clunn stated 
that he was then sixty-three years old, and had " devoted nearly half that 
time in a military capacity." 

3 Captain Gibbs was probably a son of Richard Gibbs, of Bensalem, 
who was born in England, and came to America in 1746. He was a clerk 
under Lawrence Growden, then Prothonotary, and was afterward Sheriff 
of the county. He died in 1798. Of the son we know nothing. 

■• William Rodman, born in Bensalem, October 7, 1757, vv-as a descend- 
ant of John Rodman, who immigrated from England to Barbadoes, West 



JOHN DAVIS. 75 

commanded the " First Troop of Light Dragoons of 
the Bucks County Brigade." The firing of the British 
frigate Leopard on the Chesapeake, in 1807, stimu- 
lated' miHtary men, and meetings, to form volunteer 
companies, were held at several places, including 
Doylestown, Centreville, Richborough and Hart's 
Cross Roads, now Hartsville. At that time Philip 
Miller and Joseph Stewart commanded artillery com- 
panies, and Benjamin Walton and Samuel Sellers 
cavalry. In 1807, Bucks county furnished her quota 
of cavalry and artillery from the companies above 
named, and 539 infantry. 

At the period of which we now write, from 181 5 
to about 1845, ^^'^^ volunteer militia of the State and 
county were in a better condition than before or 
since. The martial spirit of the young men of 
Bucks was greatly stimulated by the war with Great 
Britain, and a number of volunteer companies was 
organized, in the county, the next six years, under 
the new militia law of 18 14. By 1822 there were 
nineteen companies in Bucks well uniformed and 
equipped, whose discipline was highly creditable. 



Indies, in 1686, and the son of William Rodman, born on Long; Island, 
May 5, 1720. William Rodman, Jr., was an earnest and active patriot in 
the Revolution, and, althoujfh a Friend, voluntarily took the oath of alle- 
giance, in 1778. He served under General Lacey, in 1781 ; was Justice of 
the Peace several years ; member of the State Senate ; commanded a troop 
of horse in the " Fries Rebellion," in 1799, and was elected to Congress in 
1812. He was a man of mark in his day. 



76 JOHN DAVIS. 

They met at stated periods for drill, and, had occa- 
sion called them to the field, they would have re- 
sponded with alacrity and given a good account of 
themselves. One of the finest volunteer parades of 
that day was held at Morrisville, the 27th of Sep- 
tember, 1827. The troops consisted of the First 
Regiment Bucks County Volunteers, a regiment 
from New Jersey, another from Philadelphia, and 
several companies of cavalry. General Garret D. 
Wall ' was probably in command, as he was on the 
ground with the New Jersey regiment. After a 
drill, witnessed by a large concourse of people, the 
troops sat down to a dinner of five hundred covers, 
and, in the afternoon, marched through the streets 
of Trenton. 

When Captain Davis' first commission expired, he 
was recommissioned by Governor Hiester," the 3d of 



■> Garret Dorset Wall, the fourth child of James Wall, was born in 
Monmouth county, N. J., in 1783. The family came from England about 
1657. After a limited education he studied law with Jonathan Rhea, at 
Trenton, whose daughter he married, and commenced practice in 1804. 
He filled, in succession, the offices of Clerk of the Supreme Court, Quarter- 
master-General of the State, member of Assembly, United States District 
Attorney, was six years in the United States Senate, and Judge of the 
Court of Appeals. He was a very able law-yer, and had the confidence of 
the people. He died in November, 1850. 

"Joseph Hiester, the fifth Governor of Pennsylvania, under the Consti- 
tution of 1790, was born in Berks county, November 18, 1752. His father 
immigrated from Silesia, Germany, in 1737. He was an officer in the 
Revolution and endured the horrors of the Jersey prison ship ; was a mem- 
ber of the convention that ratified the Constitution of the United States ; 



JOHN DAVIS. 77 

August, 1 82 1, for another term of seven years, but 
soon obtained his promotion. He had already 
become so prominent in military circles, that when 
a vacancy took place among the field officers of the 
First Regiment Bucks County Volunteers, One 
Hundred and Forty-second of the line,' he was 
called to fill it, and commissioned Lieutenant- 
Colonel in 1823. He was subsequently elected Colo- 
nel, and was succeeded by Thomas Purdy, who 
died in 1844. This was one of the finest military 
organizations in the State, and was maintained 
for over thirty years. It was a favorite body of 
troops. 

The usual places of meeting of the regiment, for 
drill and review, were at the Black Bear tavern," in 



a member of the convention that framed the State Constitution of 1790; 
member of the Legislature ; several years a member of Congpress, and was 
elected Governor in 1820, serving one term. He died June 10, 1832. 

' The first battalion of this regiment was probably organized in the fall 
of 1822, and the second battalion about three years afterward. The colo- 
nels were John Davis, Simpson Torbert, Thomas Purdy, and Joseph Mor- 
rison. 

* The Black Bear, in Northampton township, on the road from New 
Hope, and other points on the Delaware, to Philadelphia, was a famous 
tavern in its day. For many years it was a political centre for that section 
of the county. A public house was kept there early, and it was called 
"Leedom's," a century ago. It was also called "Bennet's." The "Bear" was 
early made choice of for a tavern sign. For centuries the " Bear" was a 
celebrated tavern at the foot of London Bridge, and in the time of 
Richard the Third, it was the resort of aristocratic pleasure-seekers. The 
village that has grown up about our " Bear " is called Richborough. 



78 JOHN DAVIS. 

Northampton township, and the village of New- 
town, formerly the county seat. These affairs were 
very popular, and brought together a large concourse 
of persons, including many ladies, to witness the 
evolutions. The road in front of the old inn and 
the village street were lined with booths, at which all 
sorts of refreshments were sold, including the famous 
" battalion cake," made of ginger-bread and fashioned 
after a quadruped, said to resemble a horse. These 
were wonderfully popular with the boys, and no 
doubt the eating of them helped to fill the urchins 
with patriotic impulses. Among the side shows were 
foot races and horse races and boxing matches, and the 
day, by many, was esteemed "flat, stale and unprofit- 
able," if it did not yield one square fist fight. To be 
true to history the fact must be recorded, that a good 
deal of whiskey, and bad at that, was consumed on 
such occasions, and, not infrequently, some of the 
"soldiers bold" took more than a lawful ration. 
Those who had relatives in the regiments, officers or 
men, made the day a holiday. Among the military 
men who figured prominently in the county at that 
period, we may mention Simpson Torbert,'"* Joseph 



" Simpson Torbert was a member o{ an old Bucks county family, and an 
engineer by profession. He was Colonel of the First Regiment Bucks 
County Volunteers. He died over forty years ago, in Illinois, while con- 
structing a canal. He was a relative of General Davis. 



JOHN DAVIS. 79 

Morrison," Charles H. Matthews," Isaiah James," 
Paul Applebach,'' John S. Bryan,'* Charles H. Mann,'^ 



1" Joseph Morrison was a citizen of local repute; a farmer and miller by 
occupation, and lived near Rocksville, Northampton township. He was 
the last Colonel of the First Regiment, and the last General of the division. 
He filled the public offices of County Commissioner, Recorcier and 
Associate Judge. He died August 6, i88o, 

11 Dr. Charles H. Matthews was a descendant of Simon Matthew, or Mat- 
thews, who came into New Britian township with Simon Butler, about 
1720, and the grandson of Thomas, the son of Simon. He was born at 
Roxborough, near Philadelphia, whither his parents had removed, Novem- 
ber 6, 1805. He settled in the practice of medicine at Doylestown, where 
he died, July 25, 1849. His second wife was Miss Rodman, daughter of 
Gilbert Rodman, and sister of Mrs. John Fox, of Doylestown. Dr. Mat- 
thews took great interest in military affairs, and commanded the Centre 
Union Battalion, with the rank of Major; and was elected Major-General 
of the divison a few days before his last illness. He was a candidate for 
nomination for Congress in 1848, but failed by two or three votes. He 
held but one civil office, Prothonotary of the county. He was universally 
esteemed, and his death was a great shock to the community. 

'^ Isaiah James, a descendant of a Welsh family that came into New 
Britain in 1711, was born in 1758. He took a lively interest in military 
affairs ; was elected Captain of a volunteer company in 1823, at the age of 
twenty-five, and re-elected in 1828, Major, in 1831 and 1836, Lieutenant 
Colonel, in 1840, and Colonel of the Second Regiment of Bucks County 
Volunteers in 1841. Colonel James was elected to the Assembly in 1834, 
1836 and 1837, and Prothonotary of the county in 1848. He married Caro- 
line, daughter of Abel H. James, of Hilltown, and sister of the late John O. 
James, of Philadelphia, in 1824. He is still a resident of New Britain, 
1885, and active and vigorous for his years, 

13 Paul Applebach was the grandson of Henry Applebach, an immigrant 
from Wurtenberg, Germany, at the close of the Revolution. He settled 
in Springfield township. Paul Applebach was an entei prising citizen and 
wielded a wide influence ; he resided at Applebachville, Haycock township, 
which he founded, and was active in politics and military affairs. He was 



80 JOHN DAVrS 

Thomas B. Craven, '° Joseph Archambault,'^ Wilh'am 
T. Rogers,'" Samuel A. Smith,'* and others whose 



nominated for the Senate and House, but defeated with his party at the 
polls. He was elected Major-G?nera! of militia a few years before his 
death, in 1S72. 

'=• The ancestors of John S. Bryan came to Bucks county at an early day, 
and William Bryan patented the tract on which Houpt's mill, in Spring- 
field township, stands, in 1758. His mf)ther wasa daughter of John Stokes 
and Susan Newton, and a granddaughter of John and Hannah Stokes, of 
Burlington county, N. J., who settled in Haycock township, Buck county, 
in 1743. General Bryan was the son of James and Susan Bryan, plain 
Friends. He learned the printing trade in the Democrat office, Doyles- 
town, under William H. Powell, of whom he bought the establishment in 
1834, and sold it to Samuel Johnson Paxson, in 1845. He was prominent 
in politics and military affairs in the county. He was the first Prothono- 
tary elected under the Constitution of 1838 ; was a candidate for the State 
Senate in 1846, but defeated at the polls, a Major-General of militia, 
and twice filled the office of Associate Judge. He was clerk to the United 
States Senate Committee on Printing one session. He died in 1863. 
General Bryan was a warm friend and popular with the people. The at- 
tachment between him and General Davis was very strong. 

'* Charles H. Mann, the son of Charles and Catharine Mann, was born 
at Philadelphia, the 5th of June, 1809. His parents were both Germans. 
He spent his boyhood days in Plumstead, Bucks county, and in 1837 he 
settled at Danborough, that township, to carry on his trade of harness- 
making. He removed to Doylestown in a couple of years ; joined the 
Grays in 1839, and became the Captain. He was postmaster, and was 
elected Sheriff in 1845. He was proprietor of the Fountain House, Doy- 
lestown, several years, and subsequently kept the Jones House, Harris- 
burg. He is now, 1885, living at Towson, near Baltimore. 

i« Thomas B. Craven was a farmer of Northampton township, and 
member of a Dutch family that came into the county early. He com- 
manded a company in the First Regiment, and reached the rank of Major. 
He has been dead many years. 

1' Joseph Archambault's life was one of vicissitudes. He was born at 
Fontainbleau, France, in 1796, and became a ward of the Empire. He 



JOHN DAVIS. • 'i 

names have escaped us. One company of cavalry, 
the Union Troop,"" Captain Joseph Archambault, 
was attached to the regiment. It was a favorite 
corps, and in it many of the young bloods of the 

was attached to the suite of Napoleon as page, and subsequently to that of 
Josephine. He was wounded at Waterloo, and accompanied Napoleon to 
St. Helena. When ordered to surrender his sword on the Rellerophon, he 
broke it and threw the pieces into the sea. He came to America in 1817, 
and to Newtown, this county, where he kept the Brick Hotel, about 1822. 
He was a Captain and Major in the Civil War, and died in Philadelphia, in 
1874. He is known in history as the " Younger Archambault." and was 
the last survivor of the suite that accomp>anied Napoleon into exile. 

'* William T. Rogers, son of William C. Rogers, of Connecticut, was 
born in Philadelphia, in 1799, but the father subsequently removed to 
Warrington township. The son learned the printing trade with Asher 
Miner, at Doylestown ; bought the Democ7-at in 1821, and published it 
until 1829. He was prominent in military affairs and in politics ; was 
Brigade Inspector and Major-General of militia, postmaster at Doylestown, 
eight years member of the State Senate, and collector of State tolls on the 
canal at Bristol. He was a friend to public improvements. He died at 
Doylestown, in 1867, and was buried in the beautiful cemetery mainly laid 
out by his efforts. His son, Edward L., was Major of the One Hundred 
and Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment in the Civil War. 

'" Samuel A. Smith was born in Nockamixon township, about 1796, and 
came to Doylestown when appointed Register in 1824. He was elected 
Brigadier-General of the militia ; served one term in the State Senate and 
two terms in Congress. He was elected to Congress in 1829, to fill the 
unexpired term of Samuel D. Ingham, recently appointed Secretary of the 
Treasury, and re-elected in 1830. He removed to Point Pleasant, this 
county, and died there May 15, 1861, aged sixty-five. 

'" I do not know when the Union Troop, one of the finest in the State, 
was organized, but before 1830. At one time it paraded one hundred 
horses, and was uniformed like the Polish Huzzars. Among its com- 
manders were George H. Pauling, John Robbarts, Joseph Archambault, 
Andrew Craven and James S. Mann. The true name of Captain Rob- 
barts was John Hare. He had been an officer of the British Navy, and fled 
after knocking down his superior officer. 



82 JOHN DAVIS. 

middle and lower end of the county were enrolled. 
During the riots in Philadelphia, in 1844, the troop 
was ordered to the scene of action and rendered 
good service.*' 

The passage of General Lafayette through Bucks 
county, in 1824, when he visited this country as the 
" nation's guest," was an important occasion to our 
military. The General landed in New York in 
August, and, after a visit to New England, came 
south. His arrival at Philadelphia was awaited with 
deep interest. The military and citizens of Bucks 
prepared to give him a fitting welcome and escort 
him through the county. The officers of Colonel 
Davis' regiment, and a number of militia officers and 
citizens met at Ann H inkle's tavern,'" Newtown, the 
4th of September, to make proper arrangements. 
This action was strengthened by an order from 
General Mahlon Dungan " for the brigade to turn 

21 The riots in Philadelphia, in 1844, grew out of a bitter war waged 
against Catholics and foreigners by the "Native American" party. A 
church and several dwellings were burned, and a few persons killed and 
wounded. The military were called out and resisted by the rioters. 

22 This was the present Brick Hotel. Samuel Hinkle at one time kept 
what in later times was known as the "Temperance House," which had 
previously been kept by one Dettero, and Samuel Heath. Hinkle was the 
standing court interpreter and, in his absence, his wife officiated. He re- 
moved to the Brick Hotel, where he died. His widow then kept it. This 
is an ancient hostelry, as there was a public house on the spot before 1744. 
It was quite celebrated when kept by Joseph Archambault. 

23 The Dungans came into the county in 1682. Mahlon Dungan was 
elected Brigadier-General in 1824. 



JOHN DAVIS. 88 

out. It was arrant^ed that Colonel Davis' regiment 
should meet Lafayette at Morrisville ;" the Centre 
Rifle Battalion, commanded by Major Stephen 
Brock," vv^as to join the escort at Frankford and 
march with it to Philadelphia. 

Gener;il Lafayette reached Trenton,"' Saturday 
afternoon, September 25th, and tarried there over 
Sunday. That afternoon Governor Hiester, of 
Pennsylvania, passed through Bristol," on his way 
to Morrisville, to receive the distinguished stranger. 
The General crossed the Delaware into Bucks 
county, on Monday morning, where an immense 
concourse of people, including Colonel Davis' regi- 



2< On the west bank of the Delaware, opposite Trenton, and took its 
name from Robert Morris, of Revolutionary fame, who resided there. The 
locality was settled early. There was a Dutch trading post on an island, 
in the river, opposite, from 1624 to 1627, and the town site was located by 
John Wood, in 1678. General Moreau resided there several years. The 
British emissaries, sent to .seduce the Pennsylvania line at the revolt, in 1781, 
were hanged to the limb of a tree on the river bank, at Morrisville. 

2^ Stephen Brock, a popular citizen of the county and an active politician, 
was elected Sheriff in 1827. He took an interest in military affairs, and 
was Major of the Centre Unirn Battalion in 1823. He was the father 
of John J. Brock, cashier of the Doylestown National Bank. He died in 
Doylestown, August, i860. 

'■"> Trenton, on the east bank of the Delaware, at the fails, is the capital 
of New Jersey. Mahlon Stacy took up a tract of Soo acres, covering the site 
of the town, in 1680. The surprise and capture of the Hessians at Trenton, 
by Washington, in 1776, has rendered the place famous in history. 

2" Bristol, the onl> sea-port in Bucks county, is situated on the Delaware, 
opposite Burlington, N. J., sixteen miles above Philadelphia. The town 
site is on the grant of 240 acres by Sir Edmund Andros to Samuel Clift, in 
1681. 



84 JOHN DAVIS. 

ment, mounted, six hundred strong, and several in- 
dependent companies were assembled to greet him. 
He was escorted through the county by the Bucks 
troops and some cavalry sent up from Philadelphia, 
Colonel Davis' regiment leading. The people 
turned out in crowds to see him, and he received an 
ovation all along the road. As the procession 
entered Bristol the honored guest was welcomed by 
the inhabitants and their families, drawn up on the 
turnpike, and he passed under a triumphal arch 
erected over the bridge. Here he dined and was 
introduced to many persons, including Mrs. Besso- 
nette," who had ministered to him, after he was 
wounded, in 1777, while stopping in Bristol over 
night on his way to Bethlehem."" When Colonel 
Davis was presented to the General, he reminded 
him that his father, a soldier in the Pennsylvania 
line, had assisted to carry him to a place of safety 
on the field of Brandywine. The General remem- 
bered the circumstance. He embraced the Colonel, 
saying the two soldiers handled him like a child. 
After dinner the procession moved on, in the same 
order, to the Philadelphia line, where the General 



'■"* Mrs. Bessonette, was a niece of Simon Betz, and wife of Charles Bes- 
sonette. Lafayette stopped over night at the house of Betz, in 1777, on his 
way to Bethlehem, and received some attention from his niece, whom he 
met again in 1824, after the lapse of forty-seven years. 

'■"' On the north bank of the Lehigh, and was settled by the Moravians, 
in 1742. 



JOHN DAVIS. 85 

was formally delivered to the committee from the 
city. The Bucks county escort now fell to the rear, 
but many of them continued to the city, and took 
part in the festivities that followed. 

Colonel Davis was elected Brigade Inspector, for 
Bucks county, in the summer of 1828, his commission 
bearing date the 3d of August. He filled this ofifice 
seven years, and until the expiration of his com- 
mission. The ofifice never had a more faithful ofifi- 
cer. The author's attention, as a child, was then 
called to the " Pomp, parade and circumstance of 
glorious war" for the first time, and he has a keen 
recollection of the impression it made upon him. When 
he saw his father in his regimentals, and mounted, 
he believed there never had been a greater warrior. 
When the writer filled the same ofiice, a quarter of 
a century later, there was less pomp and parade 
connected with it, and he realized the fact that the 
occupant was not as big a man as he had imagined 
him. A vacancy occurring in the office of Major- 
General of the division, in 1835, Colonel Davis was 
a candidate, and, after a spirited contest, was de- 
clared elected. His commission, signed by Governor 
Wolfe, bears date August 3d. 

The election of Colonel Davis as Major-General 
was contested on the ground of illegality, and the 
question was submitted to a board of general offi- 
cers, of which the late General Robert Patterson/" 

="> Robert Patterson, son of Francis and Ann Patterson, was born in 



86 JOHN DAVIS. 

of Philadelphia, was president. The contestant, 
General Thomas Jolly, of Montgomery county, was 
represented b}' able counsel, but Colonel Davis man- 
aged his own case. This he did with so much ability 
that, at its conclusion, one of the opposing counsel 
said to him, " When they made you a farmer, they 
spoiled a darned good lawyer." The election was 
set aside and a new one ordered, at which Colonel 
Davis was re-elected, and commissioned by Governor 
Ritner." December 5, 1835. Upon the expiration of 
this commission he was again elected, and commis- 
sioned by Governor Porter,'"'^ August 3, 1842. He 



County Tyrone, Ireland, January 12, 1792. His father, taking an active 
part in the Rebellion of 1798, escaped to America and settled in Delaware 
county, Pa. Here Robert attended the neighborhood school. The late 
Mordecai D. Lewis, his schoolmate, took pride in exhibiting a list of 
fifteen boys who attended that school the same winter, who went into 
business in Philadelphia, and succeeded, and fourteen of them were alive 
at the end of half a century. General Patterson outlived them all. He 
accompanied his father's family to Tennessee in 181 1, but returned in 1812, 
and entered the counting-room of Edward Thompson. War breaking out 
with England soon after, he received a Second Lieutenant's commission in the 
Twenty-second Infantry ; serving to the end of the war, and reaching the 
rank of Captain. Re-entering mercantile life, he continued actively in it 
until his death, in 1881. He served in the Mexican War, and the War of 
the Rebellion with the rank of Major-General. 

■" Joseph Ritner, the eighth and last Governor under the Constitution 
of 1790, was born in Berks county. Pa., the 25th of March, 1780, and re- 
moved to Westmoreland county soon after his marriage in 1800. He was 
elected to the Legislature in 1820, and served in that body six years, being 
Speaker two years. He was defeated for Governor in 1829 and 1832, but 
elected in 1835, and served three years. Governor Ritner was a friend of 
the public school .systerii, and helped to put it in successful operation. 

'■'^ David R. Porter, was a son of General Andrew Porter, an officer of 



JOHN DAVIS. m 

selected for his aides-de-camp two of the most 
popular yoLiui^ men within the bounds of his 
division: John O. James,^^ of Bucks, and John H. 
Shelmire/" of Montgomery county, both being com- 
missioned with the rank of iMajor. Major James 
served on the staff until he removed to Philadelphia, 
in 1840, to engage in mercantile pursuits, where he 
became a successful merchant. How long Major 



the Reviilutirm, ami was born at Norristown, Muntgonien^ county, Pa,, 
October 17, 1788. He removed to Huntingdon county, Pa., when grown 
to manhood, where he married in 1820. After filling various county 
offices, and serving in the State Senate and Assembly, he was nominated 
and elected Governor in 1838, and re-elected in 1841. He was the first 
Governor elected under the amended Constitution of 1S38. He died 
August 6, 1867. 

33 John O. James, the great-grandso of John James, who came from 
Wales and settled on the eastern border of Montgomery county, in 1711, 
was the son of Abel H. James, who was born at Newtown, Bucks county , Pa. , 
January i, 1770. His mother was a daughter of Owen Owen, of Hilltowti, 
where he was born about 1809. Mr. James began his mercantile life 
in his native township, but removed to Philadelphia about 1840, where he 
became a leading merchant and one of the most respected citizens. His 
personal character was admirable, public-spirited, generous, hospitable, 
and honorable in all things. He was a member of the Board of Finance 
of the Centennial Celebration of 1876. He died June 26, 1883. It was at 
his store, in Hilltown, that Mina, the murderer of Doctor Chapman, was 
captured after his escape from the Doyle?town jail, in 1832. He called to 
buy a pair of shoes. 

■*•' John H. Shelniire, a son of Jacob Shelinire, a miller and farmer on 
Pennypack creek, Moreland township, Montgomery county, Pa., was born 
February 14, 1814. He took an early interest in military affairs. At the 
breaking out of the Civil War he raised a company for the First New Jersey 
Cavalry, in which he rose to the rank of Major, and was killed at the 
battle at Brandy Statifin, \'a., June 9, 1863. He was a gallant officer. 



gg JOHN" DAVIF? 

Shelmire served we cannot now say. When the 
Civil War, 1861-65, broke out, he entered the service 
and fell in battle. 

While General Davis was in commission as Major- 
General, he was active in State military affairs, and 
did a great deal to advance the interest of the 
volunteer system. During that time he commanded 
at four encampments of volunteers, three in Bucks 
county and one in Berks. The first was in North- 
ampton township, near the village of Addisville,^" in 
August, 1837, and was called Camp Washington. 
This was probably the first time troops had been 
put under canvas in the county since the " Fries 
Rebellion," '" in 1799. The following year several 
hundred volunteers were encamped near the Buck 
tavern," in Southampton township. This was called 
Camp Jefferson. These two efforts were so suc- 
cessful, and their good effect on the troops so marked, 
General Davis repeated them in August, 1843, "*^^r 



35 Addisville is a small hamlet adjoining Richborbugh, making with it 
a continuous village, and has a tavern, store, post office, and several 
dwellings. In olden times these two villages enjoyed the glories that 
waited on "battalion day." 

3" The " Fries Rebellion," in Milford township, Bucks county, Pa., 1799, 
was an armed opposition to the house tax of Mr. Adams' administration. 
John Fries, the head and front of it, was captured by the military, tried 
and sentenced to be hanged, but pardoned by the President. 

" The Buck tavern, in Southampton, was a noted inn in its day, and 
has been the scene of many hilarious bouts. It is the only known place in 
the township at which a tavern has ever been kept. John Ogilby, who was 
licensed in 1744, probably kepi at that place. 



JOHN DAVIS. 89 

Doylestown, under the name of Camp Jackson. 
On each occasion some five hundred volunteers were 
in camp for four or five days ; they were handsomely 
uniformed and well equipped ; the regulations were 
enforced, and drills frequent, with daily reviews, 
dress parades, etc. The major part of the troops 
were from Bucks county, and, at the encampment 
at Doylestown, the cadets from the military school 
at the old Bristol College were present. Captain 
Isaac R. Diller, son of Adjutant-General Diller, of 
Pennsylvania, one of the publishers of Tlic Citizen 
Soldier, a journal of that day in the interest of the 
volunteers, visited Camp Jackson and spoke of it as 
follows : 

" We were struck in our passage through the tents 
by their uncommon neatness and regularity, and an 
air of cleanliness and order reigned throughout. The 
streets were wide and well-arranged, and, in fact, 
everything bore the most conclusive evidence of the 
skill and judgment of those on whom devolved the 
duty of arranging and laying out the camp. We 
have been in many camps, but never remember to 
have seen one more beautifully planned. On the 
whole the encampment was truly a splendid affair, 
and the order and discipline there displayed were the 
subject of general remark from citizens and military." 

In the spring of 1842, General Davis was invited 
to take command of an encampment to be held at 
Reading,"" Pa., which he accepted. It opened the 

3'- The seat of justice of Berks county, Pa., a prosperous and wealthy town, 
with a population of about 50,000. 



90 JOHN DAVIS. 

I8th of May and continued to the 24th, and was 
considered the most successful military camp held 
in the State down to that time. Eight hundred men 
were under arms ; and the camp was located on an 
elevated spot overlooking the town. It was called 
Camp Kosciusko.'* Strict discipline was maintained. 
On one day the troops were reviewed by Major- 
General Winfield Scott/" Commanding General of 
the United States army, and Governor Porter of the 
State, and the occasion called together a very large 
concourse. An account of this encampment, pub- 
lished shortly afterward, in a military magazine, 
said : 



3" Thaddeus Kosciusko was born in Lithuania, in 1736, and came of an 
ancient and noble family. He was educated at the military school in 
Warsaw, and afterward studied in France. Franklin recommended him 
to Washington, who made him a member of his staff. He served through 
the Revolution as an engineer. At its close he returned to Poland, and was 
made a Major-General under Poniatowski. After the Poles had been 
conquered, he retired to Switzerland, where he died in 1817. He was 
highly esteemed by the American officers. He vi-ited the United States 
in 1797, and received a vote of land from Congress for his services. 

*° Winfield Scott was born in Virginia, in 1786, and died at West Point, 
X. Y., in 1866. After leaving college he studied law and was admitted to 
the bar, but entered the army in 1808, as a Captain of light artillery. In 
July, 1812, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and ordered to the Canada 
frontier, where he distinguished himself, and was badly wounded. He was 
made a Brigadier-General in March, 1814, and a Major-General at the close 
of the war. His campaign in Mexico was brilliant, and one of the most 
successful in history. He was the Whig candidate for President in 1852, 
but was defeated by General Franklin Pierce, who had served under him 
in Mexico. 



JOHN DAVIS. ' 91 

" It was conceded, on all hands, that this encamp- 
ment was superior to any other that had been 
formed by volunteers for many years, in any part of 
the Union. General Davis, by his gentlemanly, and 
soldier-like, deportment, won the admiration of all 
under his command; while the latter, by their 
courtesy and discipline, obtained a high, and flatter- 
ing, compliment from him." 

Captain Alden Partridge," president of the Nor- 
wich Military University, Vermont, was the camp 
instructor ; he taught the officers and men practical 
duties during the day, and lectured on history and 
military subjects in the evening. 

In conclusion of this subject I repeat what has 
already been said, that the period of which we have 

■" Alden Partridge, the son of a farmer, of Norwich, Vermont, who had 
been a soldier of the Revolution and was present at the surrender of Bur- 
goyne, was born January 12, 1785. He entered Dartmouth College in 
1802, but was shortly appointed a cadet of artillery at West Point. He was 
transferred to the engineers in 1806, and commissioned a First Lieutenant 
and assistant professor of mathematics. He was acting superintendent at 
various times between 1808 and 1815, when he was appointed superinten- 
dent, filling the position till 1817. He was promoted Captain of engineers 
in 1810. In April, that year, he resigned his commission. From the time 
of his resignation he occupied himself in instructing young men and 
organizations in the art of war. He was the father of the system of com- 
bining military instruction with college education. He established two 
excellent military schools, at Norwich, Vermont, and Middletown, Con- 
necticut, in 1820-25, where hundreds of young men were educated ; and 
subsequently established similar schools at Portsmouth, Va. , near Bristol, 
Bucks county, Pa., Harrisburg, and Brandywine Springs, Delaware. He 
did a great deal to raise the standard of drill and discipline among the 
citizen soldiery, probably more than any other one man. He was a mem- 
ber of the Vermont Legislature several sessions. He was a man of great 
learning and a skilled scientist. He died at Norwich, January 17, 1854. 



92 JOHN DAVIS. 

written was the most prosperous the State military 
ever knew. The volunteer system was wholly with- 
out State aid, except in the matter of arms and 
equipments, and all expenses were borne by the 
officers and men ; nevertheless, young men of the 
best families freely entered the ranks, moved by 
public spirit and a love for the profession of arms. 
The ranks ivere full, and we frequently saw over a 
hundred privates in one company. What they lacked 
in knowledge of the art of war at their drills, they 
made up by their enthusiasm and patriotism. That 
system has passed away never to return, and been 
replaced by one that approaches nearer to the regu- 
lar army. The Civil War was so exhaustive of the 
martial spirit of the young men of the State, that 
when it closed there were but few military organiza- 
tions. No one appeared willing to take up arms 
to " play soldier" in this county, and for several 
years there was not a company in it. The militia 
system, organized since the war, differs in all essential 
particulars from the volunteer system of half a cen- 
tury ago. It has little, if any, of the volunteer ele- 
ment about it. The troops are regularly mustered 
into the service of the State ; armed, equipped, and 
uniformed at her expense, and when they go into 
camp the men are paid and rationed by her. Under 
the old system, sustained by martial ardor and pub- 
lic spirit, Bucks county had some twenty well- 
equipped companies under arms at one time, while 



JOHN DAVIS. 93 

under the National Guard system, sustained by 
the State, she has but one. While it gives little 
encouragement to the martial spirit of our young 
men, the best bulwark of the country in time of war, 
it provides a small, compact, and disciplined body of 
troops ready for service at all times. 



CHAPTER VI. 

We have now reached that period in the Hfe of 
General Davis that embraces his career as poHtician 
and man of affairs. While not brilliant, nor as dis- 
tinguished as that of many others, it was highly 
honorable to himself and friends, and important 
enough to record on these pages. In all that he did, 
or was, we see the extraordinary good sense that 
marked his whole life. Men of the greatest renown 
do not alway make the most lasting mark, for good, 
on society. 

Being a Democrat from conviction, General Davis 
identified himself with that party from his first set- 
tlement in Bucks, and took a deep interest in all 
political movements. He was a natural politician, 
and had great influence with men. He was stead- 
fast to his party as long as he lived, and fought 
many battles in its behalf, but at the same time he 
did not hesitate to condemn what was wrong in its 
declarations or practices. He was the sworn enemy 
of all political corruption. He was sturdy in his ad- 
vocacy of what he believed to be right, and strong 
in the reasons and facts on which his conclusions 
were founded. His activity and intelligent zeal early 
attracted the attention of his part}' friends, and he 
was urged to be a candidate for office ; but. as he 



JOHN DAVIS. 95 

was unwilling to sacrifice his private business, so 
early in life, to politics, he declined such solicitation. 
He soon became a leader, and had a large following, 
but was fifteen years in the county before he would 
allow his name to be used in connection with any 
nomination for office. He was one of the few men 
who did not attempt to use his political influence for 
his own aggrandizement. With him politics had a 
higher aim than the mere elevation of himself or 
others to office. 

Although active from the first in the support of 
his party nominees. General Davis was especially so 
in the Presidential campaign of 1824, between Jack- 
son ' and Adams.' He was an ardent admirer of 
General Jackson, as he was, in fact, of all men who 

' Andrew Jackson, seventh President, was born in South Carolina. 
March 15, 1767. His career was a remarkable one. Without education, 
other than what he picked up, he was admitted to the bar, assisted to frame 
the Constitution of Tennessee ; was elected to the House, and the Senate of 
the United States, and Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. He 
commanded in a successful campaign against the Creek Indians in 1813, 
and his military services culminated with his defeat of the Briti.sh army 
before New Orleans, in 1815. He was elected President in 1828 and re- 
elected in 1832. He died June 8, 1845. 

^ John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, the second President, and 
born in Massachusetts, July 11, 1767, was the sixth President of the United 
States. Finishing his education in Europe, he was admitted to the bar in 
1791 ; was Ambassador to the Hague, in 1794 ; Minister to Pru.ssia ; Minis- 
ter to Russia, in i8og ; Commissioner to negotiate the Treaty of Peace with 
England, in 1814 ; Minister to England in 1815 ; Secretary of State under 
Monroe, and was elected President by the House of Representatives in 
1824. He subsequently served several terms in Congress, and died February 
23, 1848. 



96 JOHN DAVIS' 

risked their lives in defence of the country, and he 
entered into the contest with great warmth. The 
result of that election made him the stern enemy of 
what is known as the "Adams-Clay coalition " ' that 
defeated Jackson, and he took a leading part in pro- 
ducing the enthusiasm that led to his triumphant 
election in 1828. A friend, writing of the part he 
took in that contest, says : 

'* A favorite meeting place for farmers, at that 
time (1828), was the local smitk shop in a neighbor- 
hood, and, on this occasion, John Davis was present 
at an accidental meeting of his friends and acquaint- 
ance at the cross roads where Davisville now 
stands. He was in the prime of life, healthy, rugged, 
clear-headed, and bold in defence of his political 
opinions. In the gathering were William Purdy, 
Christopher Search, John Horner and others. Some 
of them were opposed to Jackson, and defended, 
not only the means by which Adams had been 
elected, but the details of his administration. The 
answer of John Davis, to the defenders of Adams 
and opponents of Jackson, made an impression on 
my mind, young as I was, still keen and vivid. He 
used plain, terse language, and marshalled his facts 
in such compact style as to bear down all antago- 

'■> The " Adams-Clay coalition," so-called, grew out of Mr. Clay throwing 
his strength for Mr. Adams in the House of Representatives, in 1825, which 
elected him President, and Mr. C.'s acceptance of the office of Secretary of 
State. It was charged there was a bargain between them, and was the 
cause of much political scandal and bitterness. At the time, the coalition 
was generally believed, but the friends of both parties denied it. Mr. Clay 
admitted he made a mistake in accepting the office. He was not the 
same popular favorite afterward. 



J.OIIX DAY IK «7 

nism of a successful character. Some notice taken of 
the boy, who displayed such attention on this occa- 
sion, laid the foundation of an intimacy which lasted 
until the speaker was laid away to rest in the old 
graveyard at Southampton." 

The campaign of 1828 was one of exceeding bit- 
terness, probably the bitterest during the century. 
Personal animosities were engendered that lasted for 
years, and some were never healed. These extended 
into all circles, and friends of almost a life-time were 
estranged. In the re-election of Jackson, in 1832, 
and his Democratic successor, in 1836, General Davis 
w^as equally active. 

Upon the election of General Jackson, in 1828. 
the friends of Samuel D. Ingham,' the foremost man 
in Bucks, and one of the ablest statesmen in Con- 



* Samuel D. Ingham was a descendant of Jonas Ingham, an English 
Friend, who came from Old to New England in 1705, and settled in Sole- 
bury, Bucks county. Pa., in 1730. He purchased the Great Spring Farm, 
near New Hope, of James Logan, which his son Jonathan inherited. 
He left three sons, the younger, Jonathan, becoming a distinguished phy- 
sician and scholar ; who gave his professional services to the Continental 
army, and died of yellow fever, in 1793. His son Samuel was born at 
the family homestead, September 6, 1779. The death of his father inter- 
rupted his studies, and he was indentured to learn the paper-making busi- 
ness at a mill on the Pennypack. He was a close student during his ap- 
prenticeship, and when through it, at the age of twenty-one, he returned 
home and took charge of the mills and farm. He entered public life early. 
He was elected to the Assembly in 1805-6-7; was in Congress from 1812 
to 1829, with the exception of the three years he was Secretary of Common- 
wealth. During the war with England, 1812-15, he was a leading mem- 
ber of Congress, and advocated the war. Mr. Ingham died at Trenton, N. 
J., June 5, 1S60. 



98 JOHN DAVIS'. 

gress, presented him for a seat in the new Cabinet, 
The most active in this movement were John Fox, 
John Davis and Lewis S. Coryell, of this county, and 
others in Eastern Pennsylvania. The effort was 
successful ; Mr. Ingham was appointed, and entered 
upon his duties as Secretary of the Treasury, the 4th 
of March, 1829. This appointment gave great satis- 
faction to his friends in Bucks, and strengthened 
the Democratic party. Some of his friends looked 
forward to higher honors for him. At a 4th of July 
celebration, the same year, Colonel Davis proposed 
the following toast in honor of the county's favorite 
son : " Samuel D. Ingham, Pennsylvania's talented 
son ; may the people of the United States duly ap- 
preciate his exalted worth as a statesmen at the ter- 
mination of Andrew Jackson's administration." Mr. 
Ingham took with him to Washington, as clerk in 
the Treasury, Gilbert Rodman," a brother-in-law of 
Judge Fox, and at that time practicing law at Lan- 
caster, Pa. This move changed his destiny. He 
spent his life at the Federal capital, buiied in the 



'' Gilbert Rodman, the son of Gilbert Rodman, of Bensalem, Bucks 
county. Pa., was born August 21, 1800. He was a clerk in the mercantile 
house of Joseph S. Lewis & Co., Philadelphia, in early life ; subsequently 
studied law with Judge Fox ; completed his studies in the office of George 
M. Dallas, and commenced practice at Lancaster. He rose to be Chief 
Clerk of the Treasury Department, and his experience and ability rendered 
his services almost invaluable. In Taylor's administration he was sent to Cali- 
fornia to investigate fraudulent transactions in the Custom House. Mr. 
Rodman died at Washington, January 15, 1S62. 



JOHN DAVIS. 99 

Treasury department, when his talents and acquire- 
ments fitted him for any position. He could get 
no higher than chief clerk, which he held for 
several years, and was occasionally Acting Secretary 
of the Treasury. Mr. Rodman was one of Bucks 
county's brightest sons. 

A number of persons are still living who remember 
the excitement, more than half a century ago, caused 
by an attempt, in Congress, to prohibit the carrying 
of the United States mails on Sunday. For the 
time being it was the most exciting question of the 
period. It came up in Congress as early as 1815, on 
a remonstrance from the inhabitants of Chester Dis- 
trict, South Carolina. During that session eighty- 
five petitions were presented to the House on this 
subj-ect, and referred to the Postmaster-General. 
He made a formal report, in which he gave the law 
on the subject of carrying the mails, and opposed 
the stoppage of their running and opening on Sun- 
day. The Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads 
deemed it inexpedient to interfere with the present 
arrangement of the post office establishment, and 
there the subject ended for the present. It was 
again brought up in Congress at the session of 
1828-29, when a more determined effort w-as made to 
accomplish the purpose of the petitioners. This 
time it was taken up by the churches, and a religious 
crusade preached against carrying and opening mails 
on Sunday. The 19th of January, 1829, Richard M. 



100 JOHN DAVIS. 

Johnson," Senator from Kentucky, made his famous 
report to the Senate against granting the prayer of 
the petitioners; saying, among other things, he be- 
Heved legislation on the subject would have a ten- 
dency to unite religion with our political institutions. 
It was again before the House in December, 1830. 

The "Sunday mail question," as it was called, be- 
came the subject of public and private discussion all 
over the country, and a good deal of bad blood was 
stirred. In Bucks county, General Davis arrayed 
himself against the movement, and, with his accus- 
tomed independence, spoke his mind frcel}'. So 
prominent did his name become in connection with 
the question, and so weighty his influence with the 
people, that an effort to break it down was deter- 
mined upon. The Rev. A. O. Halse}',' an able 
Dutch Reformed minister, pastor of the church at 



" Kichiird M. Johnson was born in Kentucky, in 1780, and died in 1850. He 
served many years in Congress and tlie Senate ; was elected Vice-President 
by the Senate in 1837, on the failure to elect by ballot, and was defeated for 
the same office with Mr. VanBuren in 1840. He served with great distinction 
on the frontier' in the War of 1812-15, and it is claimed he killed the 
famous Indian warrior Tecumseh. In the Senate his chief effort was 
against the discontinuance of the Sunday mails. He was the author of the 
law to abolish imprisonment for debt in Kentucky. 

' Reverend Abram Oatwout Halsey was called to the Low Dutch Re- 
formed Church of North and Southampton, in 1829. He was a man of 
learning and a strong preacher. His sermons were sometimes three 
hours long, and tired the patience of his hearers. The church flourished 
under him. He died August 29, 186S, within eight months of complet- 
ing a pastorate of forty yeais. 



JOHN DAVIS. 101 

Smoketown, now Churchville," was prevailed upon 
to challenge him. The challenge was accepted and 
the time and place of meeting fi.xed. The debate 
was held in the school house near the church, ;ind 
was filled to overflowing, many who came to listen 
not being able to get in. The exact time is not 
remembered, but it was in the winter of 1829 or '30. 
A gentleman, then a boy well-grown to manhood, who 
was present at the debate, writes us the following 
account of this somewhat noted discussion of an 
important question : 

"The reverend gentleman was on his own ground 
and surrounded by his own friends. He had studied 
the question attentively, and mastered his side of 
the controversy. General Davis was cool and self- 
possessed as usual. Mr. Halsey opened the debate, 
and appealed to the audience to save the country 
from the undermining influence of such desecration 
of the Sabbath, as that involved in transporting the 
mails on that day. He then presented the old argu- 
ment in favor of the action asked for, and took his 
seat. His friends were jubilant. General Davis 
arose and, after, in a mild and dignified manner, 
brushing away all idea of danger to the Sabbath by 
transporting a few mail bags on that day, presented 
such a broad, sensible, and statesmanlike view of the 
whole subject, as to completely demolish the struc- 
ture raised by Mr. Halsey in his opening address. 



" Churchville, a post village of Southampton township, Bucks county, 
Pa., on the Bristol road eighteen miles from Philadelphia. It contains a 
church, Low Dutch Reformed, and a number of dwellings. The .Newtown 
railroad runs near by. 



102 ' JOHN DAVrS. 

No single speech ever produced greater effect upon 
an audience, and from this point the interest in the 
debate ceased. PubHc sentiment in the community 
settled down under the facts presented and enforced 
by General Davis, and shortly the efforts to prevent 
the transportation of the mails on the Sabbath were 
relinquished." 

Although General Davis had repeatedly refused 
to accept nomination for public office at the hands 
of his political friends, he could not always with- 
stand their solicitation. He therefore consented to 
stand for Sheriff in 1827, and was nominated with 
little opposition. The Federal party took up 
Stephen Brock, who made a popular candidate, and 
the campaign was a very lively one. Under ordi- 
nary circumstances. General Davis would have been 
elected, for the county was Democratic then, as now, 
but some disstitisfaction in the party helped to elect 
his opponent. As he had not sought the nomination, 
the defeat made no impression upon him, and, as soon 
as the election was over, he resumed his business as 
if there had been no interruption. His defeat was 
probably a blessing, as the duties of the Sheriff's 
ofifice would have compelled an entire relinquish- 
ment of his private business. 

In 1829 the Democratic nomination for Governor 
fell upon George Wolf,"' of Easton, Northampton 



^ George Wolf, the seventh Governor of Pennsylvania, was of German 
parentage, and born in Northampton county, Pa., in 1777. He was well 
educated. After filling some local offices, including postmaster at Easton, he 



JOHN DAYIR. 10:^ 

county. He was a prominent citizen, and stood 
high in the confidence of his party. He then repre- 
sented in Congress the district, of which Rucks 
county formed a part, and inchided Northampton, 
Pike and Wayne, but resigned to accept the nomina- 
tion. This district elected two members, Mr. Wolf's 
colleague being Samuel D. Ingham, who, shortly be- 
fore, had resigned his seat to accept the portfolio of 
the Treasury under General Jackson. General 
Davis was a warm advocate of the nomination and 
election of George Wolf, and possessed the confi- 
dence of his administration. Governor Wolf made 
such a popular executive, he was renominated and 
elected for a second term, in 1832. 

In 1833 Governor Wolf tendered to General 
Davis the first and only State office he ever held, 
that of member of the Board of Appraisers for the 
Public Works, which, by the advice of friends, he 
accepted, and was commissioned July 25th. It was 
the duty of this board to assess the damages done 
by the State to private property in the construction 
of her canals and railroads. He held the office three 
years, and took great pleasure in the discharge of 
its duties. They called him to all sections of the 



was elected to Congress in 1824, and served six years ; was elected Governor 
in 1829, and re-elected in 1832 ; was first Comptrollerof the Treasury under 
Jackson, and Collector of the Port of Philadelphia under VanBuren. He 
died, suddenly, March nth, 1840. Governor Wolf was the father of the 
common school system of Pennsylvania. 



104 joirx i>Avrs. 

State, and as the board traveled on horseback the 
members had an excellent opportunity to see the 
country. They spent a portion of each winter at 
Harrisburg preparing a report of their work. 
While thus engaged, General Davis made the ac- 
quaintance of many prominent men, and formed 
friendships that lasted through life. At the end of 
his term, he retired from office, and again gave per- 
sonal attenti(^n to his private business, which he 
never relinquished. 

During the absence of General Davis from home, 
in the service of the State, or otherwise engaged, he 
kept up a lively correspondence with his family. 
One of his letters, written to the author, then a 
small boy at school, and dated " Harrisburg, January 
30, 1833," we deem worthy of insertion : 

" As I promised to write you from Harrisburg, I 
now take up my pen to perform that promise ; be- 
lieving that we ought to make no engagement, or 
promise, we do not intend, at the time, to fulfil. As 
it is important to instill this principle into the youth- 
ful mind, it is therefore my desire that you should 
adopt it as the rule of action in your intercourse 
with all your schoolmates, and others ; and not 
make any promise but what you intend to perform." 

A father could not well give better advice to a 
son, and " the rule of action " he lays down would be 
excellent capital for any young man to begin life on. 

Few events of that day produced greater excite- 
ment in political circles, than the breach between 



JOHN DAVIS. 105 

President Jackson and Mr. Ingham, his Secretary of 
the Treasur}', with the causes that led to it. followed 
by his resignation, in May, 183 1.'" His friends were 
indignant at the treatment he received, and deter- 
mined to give him a royal welcome home. A public 
meeting was held and arrangements madL', in which 
no one took more interest than General Davis. Mr, 
Ingham reached the county on Saturday, the 26th of 
June He was met in Philadelphia, by Judge Fox " 
and John Pugh," who accompanied him to the Sorrel 

1" The ostensible cause of Mr. Ingham leaving Genera! Jackson's Cabi- 
net was the refusal of Mrs. Ingham to associate with Mrs, Eaton, wife of 
the Secretary of War. Behind that, however, was some political irritation, 
Mr. Ingham was a strong friend of Mr. Calhoun, the Vice-President, a 
political rival of Jackson. The two causes created the breach and raised 
animosities that were never healed. 

11 John Fox, the son of Edward Fox, an Englishman from Ireland, who 
came to America, and settled in Philadelphia prior to the Revolution, was 
born in that city, April 26, 1787. His mother was a daughter of Jonathan 
Dickinson Sergeant, a distinguished lawyer. After graduating at the 
University of Pennsylvania he studied law with Alexander J. Dallis, was 
admitted to the bar, and settled at Newtown. He removed to Doylestown 
with the county seat, in 1813. He was appointed Deputy Attorney-Gen- 
eral for the county, in 1814, by Governor McKeen ; and relinquished his 
business to serve on the .staff of General Worrill in the campaign of the 
fall of that year. He took an interest in military affairs, and was elected 
Major-General of the division, but we believe never equipped. He 
was President Judge of the courts of Rucks and Montgomery, from 1830 
to 1840. He married a daughter of Gilbert Rodman, a prominent citizen 
of the county. He was a man of great ability, a fine lawyer and a wise 
political leader, but would never accept public office, except the Judgeship. 
He held intimate relations with several of the leading statesmen of the 
country. Judge Fox died at Doylestown, April 15, 1849, 

'2 John Pugh, son of Daniel and Rebecca Pugh, and Ijorn in Hill- 



106 JOHN DAVIS. 

Horse tavern," in Montgomery county. Here he 
was received by a number of his personal and pohti- 
cal friends on horseback, and escorted to the hne of 
Bucks county, where he was welcomed by a large 
assemblage of his fellow-citizens. A cavalcade was 
now formed, with General William T. Rogers, and 
Colonel John Davis, as marshals, which escorted the 
distinguished guest up the Middle Road to the Black 
Bear tavern, where the formal reception and wel- 
come took place. A long line of vehicles preceded 
and followed the carriage in which Mr. Ingham rode ; 
and in the one immediately in front were General 
Samuel Smith and Captain Francis Baird, Revolu- 
tionary veterans. Horsemen rode on each side of 
the carriage in open order. A large concourse of 
people awaited the arrival of the guest at the Bear, 
where his reception was most cordial. After he had 
received their congratulations and rested from the 
fatigues of the journey, he A\'as conducted to a 
sumptuous table spread in the shade of some vener- 
able trees. Dinner through with, the distinguished 
guest was presented with a formal address of wel- 

town township, Bucks county, Pa., June 2, 1761, was a descendant of 
Hugh Pugh, who came from Wales and settled in Chester county in 1725. 
He became prominent in the county ; served four years in the Assembly, 
four years in Congress, was Register of Wills and Recorder for eleven 
years, and several years Justice of the Peace. He died at Doylestown, July 
12, 1842. 

'3 A popular inn, in its day, on the Middle Road, in Aloreland township, 
Montgomery county. Pa., one mile from the Bucks county line, and four- 
teen miles from Philadelphia. 



JOHN DAVIS. 107 

come, by Henry Chapman, Esq.," and Captain Baird," 
signed by thirty of the leading citizens of the county. 
To this Mr. Ingham made a lengthy reply, reviewing 
the events that led to his resignation, and the facts 
connected with the supposed attempt to assassinate 
him. At the close of these exercises, he proceeded 
to his home in Solebury township, near New Hope, 
accompanied by the committee. 

The movement that led to the incorporation of 
the word " white " in the State Constitution of 1838, 
was started in Bucks county, and General Davis was 
one of the most active promoters of it. At the Oc- 
tober election of 1837, negroes appeared at several 
of the polls and offered their votes. They were re- 
ceived at Middletown,'^ and it was claimed they 

'* Henry Chapman is the son of Abraham Chapman, a member of the 
Bucks county bar, and a descendant of John and Jane Chapman, who set- 
tled in Wrightstown, in 1684. He was admitted to the bar in 1825 ; 
became an able lawyer, and was prominent in politics. He filled several 
public stations ; was elected to the State Senate, in 1S43 ; appointed Presi- 
dent Judge of the Chester and Delaware district, in 1847, but declined the 
nomination in 1851, when the office was made elective ; and was 
elected President Judge of the Bucks and Montgomery district, in 1861, 
serving a full term of ten years. Judge Chapman gave great satisfaction 
on the bench, and the State has had few, if any, abler jurists. He was 
elected to Congress, in 1856, but declined a renomination when he could 
have had it without opposition. Since that time he has refused all judicial 
and pwlitical honors, and lives a retired life, respected by all. 

i" Captain Francis Baird, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, was born 
in Warwick township, Bucks county. Pa., in 1758, and died on the same 
farm, June 27, 1835. He served his country before he was of age. 

'" Middletown, a township of Bucks county. Pa., organized in 1692, was 
called " The Middle Township " and " Middle Lots " down to 1703. The 



108 JOHN DAVIS. 

elected one or more of the candidates on the Whig 
ticket. This caused considerable political excite- 
ment among the Democrats, who were not willing to 
concede the right to vote to the colored man. If 
negroes had ever before voted in the county, they 
were not in sufficient numbers to control the election 
or attract attention. Steps were immediately taken 
to test in the courts the right of negroes to the bal- 
lot. General Davis was one of the number who be- 
lieved the Constitution and laws did not confer the 
right of suffrage upon that class, and he seconded 
every effort to have the question tested by the 
highest judicial authority. At that day the most 
ardent dreamers could not have looked forward to 
the events of 1861-65. 

A public meeting, to consider this question, was 
held at the White Bear tavern," the 21st of October, 
at which General Da\'is presided, and addresses were 
made by C. E. Wright " and S. L. Roberts, Esqs." 



township is large, and rich, with a population of about 2,500. It was set- 
tled by some of the Welcome passengers. It lies in the lower part ( f the 
county, within a few miles of the Delaware. 

1" The W^hite Bear is at Addisville, a few hundred yards above the 
Black Bear, on the same road, and at the intersection of the road from 
Newtown. A tavern has been kept there over half a century. It took the 
name of Addisville from Amos Addis, in 1817. Probably the first " White 
Bear" was named after this animal. 

"> Caleb E. Wright is the son of Joseph Wright, whose father moved 
from New Jersey to Wilkesbarre, where he was born. Mr. Wright read 
law with Chester Butler and completed his studies at Danville ; was admitted 
to the bar in 1832-33 ; came to Doylestown and practiced until 1853, when 



JOHN DAVIS. 109 

General William T. Rogers was chairman of the 
committee which reported a preamble and resolu- 
tions, the former, said to have been drawn b}^ Judge 
Fox, being an able presentation of the political 
status of the negro from the settlement of the State. 
Committees were likewise appointed to get signers 
to a memorial to the Legislature, requesting that 
body to investigate the charge of illegal voting by 
negroes ; to take steps to contest the election in the 
courts of the county, and to present the proceedings 
of this meeting to one to be held by the Germans at 
Buck's tavern,^" the 28th of October. A general 
county meeting was called at Doylestown, the 6th of 
December, " to adopt such other measures as may 
be deemed necessary," etc. 

The question came before the Court of Quarter 



he returned to Wilkesbarre ; came back to Doylestown in 1876, where he 
is now in practice. He is a licensed minister in the Methodist church. 

»^ Stokes L. Roberts was a descendant of Edward Roberts, who, in the 
spring of 1716, with his wife Mary and daughter, and all their worldly 
goods, came up through the woods from Byberry, on horseback, and settled 
in Richland township, Bucks county. He married Mary Bolton, of Chel- 
tenham, whose lineage can be traced back to the Earls of Murcia. Stokes 
L. was the son of David Roberts, and born at Newtown ; read law and was 
admitted to the bar. He served two terms in the Assembly ; was nominated 
for Congress, but defeated at the polls; elected Additional Law Judge of 
the courts of Bucks and Montgomery, in 1872, but resigned soon after 
he took his seat. He died at Doylestown, February 22, 1882. 

20 Buck's tavern, now Bucksville, in Nockamixon township, Bucks 
county, Pa., is an old tavern stand. We do not know when first licensed. 
It was a political centre, and a meeting place for the military of the upper 
end of the county fifty years ago. It took its name from the Buck family, 
prominent in that township, and among the earliest settlers there. 



110 JOHN DAVIS. 

Sessions of Bucks County, the 28th of December, 
1837, on petition and complaint in writing, to con- 
test the election of Abraham Fretz,^' returned elected 
to the office of County Commissioner. Judge Fox 
was on the bench. After the question had been ably 
argued, the Court, in a learned and exhaustive opinion, 
decided that negroes had no right to vote in Penn- 
sylvania, and directed the complainant to take the 
means necessary to ascertain the truth of the facts 
alleged in the complaint. 

The agitation of the subject was continued until 
the convention, to amend the State Constitution, 
assembled the following year, when it was brought 
before that body. After some discussion, the word 
" white " was inserted in the new Constitution by a 
vote of ']'] to 45. This was the supreme law of the 
State until the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment 
to the Constitution of the United States. Of those 
active at the Bear meeting, as ofificers, speakers, 
members of committees, etc., some forty in number, 
but two are known to be living after the lapse of 
forty-nine years. 



*i Abraham Fretz was a plain citizen of the county, and brought into 
local prominence as the representative of his party. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The revision of the Constitution of Pennsylvania 
became the subject of discussion during the adminis- 
tration of Governor Wolf. That of 1790, then in force, 
was deficient in several respects, and the want of a 
new fundamental law was seriously felt. Public 
opinion gradually settled down in its favor, and an act 
was passed, at the session of 1835-36, authorizing the 
assembling of a convention, and providing for an 
election of delegates the following October. Bucks 
county was allowed four delegates under the appor- 
tionment ; and, when the Democratic nominating 
convention met, General Davis was placed upon the 
ticket.' The contest, not a very spirited one, re- 
sulted in the election of the Whig candidates, who 
took their seats in the convention.'' That this defeat 
did not weaken General Davis, in the confidence of 
his party and political friends, is proved by what 

• The election for delegates to the Constitutional Convention was held 
Friday, November 4, 1836. The vote in Bucks county was as follows : 
John Davis, 2,990 ; J. Kooker, 3,014 ; C. E. DuBois, 3,146 ; Thomas Ross, 
2,827; E. T. McDowell, 3,376; S. Carey, 3,240; J. Houpt, 3,302; P. 
Jenks, 3,192. 

^ The Constitutional Convention of 1837 met at Harrisburg, the 2d of May, 
and elected John Sergeant, president ; adjourned in July ; met again in 
October, and removed to Philadelphia, where they completed their labors 
the 22d of February, 183S. The amendments were ratified at the polls by 
a small majority. 



112 JOHN DAVIS. 

took place in the near future. Bucks county then 
formed a Congressional district, and a member of 
the House of Representatives of the United States 
was to be chosen at the October election of 1838. 
His name was presented to the Cong-ressional con- 
vention, and he was nominated with little opposi- 
tion.' The Doylestoivii Democrat, the organ of the 
party, thus spoke of the nominee : 

" From the time of his return to his native county. 
General Davis has been distinguished for the energy 
of his character as a man of business, for his sound 
judgment and his thirst of knowledge. Few men in 
the county are possessed of more general informa- 
tion, or are better fitted to command attention in a 
deliberate assembly. He is naturally a good public 
speaker. His ideas are expressed with great per- 
spicuity and force, and his voice and manners are 
such as to command attention and respect. His 
perseverance and industry are untiring. He is also 
a self-made man. By his o^vn industry, energy, forti- 
tude and integrity, he has placed himself in the posi- 
tion he now occupies before the people." 

The Whig party nominated, about the same time, 
Mathias Morris, Esq.,^ a member of the Bucks county 

' The convention, that nominated General Davis for Congress, met in 
the court house, at Doylestcwn, the 17th of September, 1838, and was pre- 
sided over by Jesse Johnson, of Northampton township. The election was 
held October 9th, and the following was the vote : John Davis, 4,552 ; 
Mathias Morris, 4,128. 

* Mathias Morris, a descendant of Thomas Morris, who settled in Hill- 
town township, Bucks county, Pa., the first quarter of the last century, 
was born in 1787, and died at Doylestown, in 1839. He studied law with 



JOHN DAVIS. 113 

bar, who then represented the district in Congress, 
and asked a re-election. These two gentlemen went 
before the people with their political claims, and made 
an active canvass. When the votes were counted, it 
was found that General Davis was returned by a 
majority of 424. Of course this result brought joy 
to the winners and sorrow to the losers, but it is 
always thus in politics. 

The election of General Davis gave satisfaction to 
his party friends, judging by the usual indications in 
such cases. At a Democratic meeting, at the public 
house of Jacob Bertles, Haycock, the i6th of No- 
vember, 1838, the following regular toasts, among 
others, were drunk: 

Samuel Afflerbach : " General John Davis: His 
gentlemanly deportment endears him to us, and we 
are proud of our county to be represented by such a 
distinguished and worthy citizen, who is entitled to 
our future confidence." 

Samuel Roudenbush : "General John Davis: His 
election to Congress has nullified the Federalists, 
Abolitionists, and British-Red-Flag party, which met 



his cousin, Enos Morris, at Newtown ; was admitted to the bar, in 1809, 
and came to Doylestown with the removal of the county seat in 1813. Mr. 
Morris was appointed Deputy Attorney-General for Bucks, in 1819 ; was 
elected to the State Senate in 1828, and to Congress in 1836, serving one 
term. He married a daughter of Abraham Chapman, in 1829, and his 
widow is still living in Doylestown, in 18S6. The Morrises were English 
Friends, but became Baptists on settling in America. 



114 JOHN DAVIS'. 

at Burson's. Such nullification we will always sup- 
port." 

At a celebration at Point Pleasant/ November 30, 
1838, the following sentiment was drunk: 

" Our Congressman, General John Davis, Senator, 
General Rogers, and Field, Roberts and Penrose, 
members of the Legislature, will be on the ground 
to sustain the principles upon which they were 
elected." 

At a meeting at the Harrow,^ Nockamixon, De- 
cember 26, 1838, the following regular toast was 
drunk : 

" Our Congressman-elect, General John Davis, a 
Democrat, good and true." 

General Davis took his seat in the XXVI Congress 
of the United States, the first Monday of De- 
cember, 1839, ^"*^ served through it with credit to 
himself, his constituents and the country. We ven- 
ture the assertion, that few enter the Federal Legis- 
lature better equipped for the discharge of their im- 
portant duties than the new member from Bucks. 
He was scarcely ever absent from his seat, and gave 
close attention to the public business. He was well 

fi Point Pleasant, a small village at the mouth of the Tohickon creek, on 
the Delaware, lies partly in Tinicum and partly in Plumstead township. 
It contains about thirty families, with stores, taverns, etc. The post office 
was granted in 1821. The Delaware is here spanned by a wooden bridge. 

^ The Harrow tavern was so called as early as 1785. In more modern 
days it was a place of meeting for the military. A post office, called Ridge, 
was recently established there. 



JOHN DAVIS. 115 

versed in all public questions, and prepared to deal 
with them intelligently. During his Congressional 
term the Independent Treasury bill was introduced 
and passed into a law.' He took great interest in it, 
and was zealous in its favor. This measure, which 
meant a divorce of the government from the banks, in 
the matter of taking care of, and disbursing, its own 
money, excited deep interest and caused no little 
popular clamor. It was bitterly opposed by the banks 
and all in the interest of the money power of the 
country ; and they made the most strenuous exertions 
to defeat it, but without success. It became the 
law of the land and is still in force. It would be 
well for the States were they to adopt a similar law, 
and take care of their own money, instead of allow- 
ing the banks to have it to trade upon. 

General Davis not only felt a deep interest in the 
passage of the bill, but participated in the debate 
upon it. The speech he delivered June 27, 1840, 
was acknowledged to be one of the ablest on the 
subject. He opened his remarks by reading the fol- 
lowing extract from the Boston Courier, a Whig 
newspaper of that day : 

" What mischiefs are sure to be enacted when a 

' The Independent or Sub-Treasury system was made possible by (jen'l 
Jackson's attack on the banks and his removal of the deposits. It inauj^u- 
rated the sound policy of the government taking care of its own funds, and 
in all the wild financial schemes of the present day no one makes an at- 
tempt to repeal the law. The practice of allowing the State banks to be 
the custodians of the public money was a pernicious one. 



116 JOHN DAVrS. 

man, born to nothing but the plough-tail, undertakes 
to legislate." 

To this General Davis replied : 

" I am the kind of man herein described. I was 
born to no inheritance but the ' plough-tail,' and I 
have ploughed all day, from sun-up until dark, since 
I was elected to a seat on this floor. I know, very 
well, this is not an uncommon opinion in a certain 
quarter. It is as old as the Constitution under 
which we live." 

His speech, from an untrained statesman, was 
received with great favor, and published far and 
near. The Pottsville" (Pa.) Eviporinm said of it : 

" We have enjoyed the perusal of an excellent 
speech, in favor of the Independent Treasury bill, 
by the Hon. John Davis, member of Congress from 
Bucks county, and we find it the production of an 
intelligent and independent Democratic farmer. The 
speech is an excellent one, and well worthy the clear 
head and sound heart of him who delivered it." 

The Washington Globe, which published the 
speech in full, said : 

" General Davis is one of the plain Republicans of 
Pennsylvania, so noted for their freedom, indepen- 

" Pottsville, the capital of Schuylkill county, Pa., was laid out by John 
Potts, Sr., in 1816. The site was first settled in 1800, by John Reed, who 
accompanied men thither to make a dam and. race preparatory to building 
a furnace and forge. John Potts, Sr., removed there with his family in 
1810, and built a large stone grist mill, still standing. Houses were erected 
in the neighborhood, and it soon grew into a town. It is now a wealthy 
and populous place, and the shipping point for extensive coal fields. 



JOHN DAVIS. 117 

dence and shrewdness of their remarks, and the in- 
tegrity of their principles. If the RepubHcan fanners 
would see how easily one of their strong-minded 
men can handle the greatest political questions, they 
have only to read the plain, but most powerful, 
speech of General Davis. When it Was delivered in 
the hall, it made a strong impression upon the 
House, as we heard from several of the members. 
That it will still take deeper hold upon the un- 
sophisticated Democracy of the country we do not 
doubt. This speech will prove that an honest, clear- 
sighted man, seeking truth, guided by principle, is an 
over match for the most artful and cunning pro- 
fessional sophist. The Pennsylvania farmer demol- 
ishes the Philadelphia lawyer in debate as easily as 
he could have done in another manner with his 
' huge paws.' " 

In the course of his speech General Davis took 
occasion to defend the policy of Mr. VanBuren " and 
his administration from the assaults of his enemies. 
For this the President thanked him, personally, and 
assured him of his warmest regard. 

He took equal interest in other measures before 
Congress. On the 19th of February, 1841, when the 
House was in Committee of the Whole, on the bill 

« Martin VanBuren, the eighth President of the United States, was born, 
of Dutch ancestors, at Kinderhook, N. Y., December 5, 1782. He was 
educated to the law. At thirty he was a member of the State Senate; 
elected to the United States Senate in 1821, and Governor of New York in 
1829 ; was Jackson's first Secretary of State ; appointed Minister to Eng- 
land, but not confirmed ; elected Vice President in 1832, and President, to 
succeed Jackson, in 1836. He was renominated in 1840, but defeated by 
General Harrison. 



118 JOHN DAVIS. 

" to extend for five years the law, approved July 7, 
1838, granting pensions to certain widows and 
soldiers of the Revolution," he made a speech in 
support of the measure. He said : 

" He was pleased to say, there was no party in the 
district, he had the honor to represent, opposed to 
this bill. If there ever was a law that met the uni- 
versal approbation in that district, it is," ^aid he, 
"your law granting pensions to officers and soldiers 
of the Revolution, and to their widows, to keep 
them from want in their declining years. Sir," said 
Mr. Davis, "we owe to that class of our fellow-citi- 
zens a debt of gratitude we shall never be able to 
pay. To the soldiers of the Revolution we are in- 
debted for the blessings of the government. Yes, sir, 
for the right to assemble in this hall to discuss their 
claims ; and yet, gentlemen talk about dollars and 
cents when such claims as these are presented for 
their consideration." '" 

The speech was not lengthy, but much to the 
point, and was exceedingly well received, judging 
from the comments upon it. The Keystone, in re- 
ferring to it, said : 

" The old soldiers, and the descendants of old 



1" General Davis stated, in the course of his speech, that the whole 
number of Revolutionary officers, soldiers and widows, pensioned under 
the various acts of Congress, was 62,374 ; of this number 40,105 were re- 
ported to be still on the pension rolls, although it was believed many of 
them were deceased, of whose death no notice had yet been given. 



JOHN DAVIS, no 

soldiers, will feel the force of the remarks of Mr. 
John Davis, of Bucks, made in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, Washington, upon the subject of the 
pension list. Mr. Davis, in a brief, but clear, expo- 
sition advocates the continuance of the present sys- 
tem until the roll shall summon the survivors from 
earth, and the free people of America shall hear of 
the last of the race like 

" ' The sun in its stainless set.' " 

The Rcportcj-, likewise printed at Harrisburg," 
after indulging in words of thanks for the course 
taken on the bill, said : 

" Mr, Davis did not often speak while in Congress, 
but, whenever he did, his remarks were characterized 
by strong good sense, pertinent, clear and convincing. 
We wish there were more such as Mr. ^ Davis in 
Congress and in our Legislature. There would 
be less said and more done. We consider Mr. Davis 
one of our most useful men." 

General Davis served on several committees in 
Congress, and, among them, that of Manufactures, 
of which John Quincy Adams was chairman ; and 
we risk nothing in saying he was one of its most 
useful and intelligent members. He had made the 



" Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, is situated on the east bank 
of the Susquehanna, one hundred miles west of Philadelphia. John 
Harris, an Indian trader, located on the river, where Harrisburg now 
stands, soon after 1705, and the town that grew up was named after him. 
He received a grant of 800 acres, in 1725-6, covering the present site of the 
town. He died in 1748. The Penns granted a ferry at the crossing to 
John Harris, Jr., in 1753, which was called Harris' Ferry, until it was 
created a borough, in 1791. It was made the capital of the State in 1812. 



V20 .rOHN" DAVIf?, 

tariff and kindred subjects his careful study, ana ac- 
quired a great amount of information about them.'"^' 
He took a deep interest in the labors of the com- 
mittee, and joined in the discussions on the ques- 
tions that came before it. His position on the com- 
mittee was one of g'reat importance and responsi- 
biHty, as he held the balance between the two great 
parties, one of which was for fostering, by heavy 
taxes, vast schemes of manufacturing and internal 
improvements, while the other party looked with 
extreme jealously upon any action of the general 
government in relation to the subject. From some 
action of the committee, 'the report had gone abroad 
he was opposed to the principle of protection to 
American manufacturers, in adjusting a tariff. To 
set the public right, in this matter, three members 
of the committee, who, with himself, made a ma- 
jority, put their names to a paper, of which the fol- 
lowing is a copy : 

" Washington, April 17, 1840. 
"At a meeting of the Committee of Manufactures 
of the House of Representatives, held at their com- 
mittee room, this morning, for the purpose of con- 
sidering a resolution, introduced into said committee 
by Mr. Adams, chairman of the committee, calling 



i'-^ The tariff seems to have been a hobby with Gen'l Davis when a young- 
man. At a 4th of July celebration, at Hatboro, in 1824, he drunk the following- 
toast : " The present tariff : may it realize the expectations of its friends, 
and disappoint the fears of its enemies ; the members of Congress who 
supported it deserve well of their country." Nine guns and six cheers. 



JOHN DAVIS, 1'21 

vipon the Secretary of the Treasury to submit to the 
House of Representatives, at the commencement of 
its next session, the plan of a bill for the revision of 
the tarifT, having a due regard to the raising of 
revenue and the protection of manufactures; on the 
question to strike out the latter part of said resolu- 
tion, to wit, the clause relating to the protection of 
manufactures, Mr. Davis, of Pennsylvania, one of 
said committee, stated, that he had had a private 
conversation with the Secretary of the Treasury 
upon the subject, and that the Secretary informed 
him it would make no difference whether the com- 
mittee passed such a resolution or not, that he 
should submit a plan to Congress at the opening of 
the next session. Mr. Davis also stated that he was 
in favor of the principle of protection, and when a 
bill should come into the House it would receive his 
support ; but he did not think the country expected 
the subject should be agitated before the next session 
of Congress, and that he thought it would be injurious 
to the interests of the manufacturers to have the 
subject agitated at this session of Congress. 
" [Signed,] 

"George C. Dromgoole, 

" Ira a. Eastman, 

"John T. H. Worthington."" 

We recall a little episode that occurred while 
General Davis was at Washington attending the 
session of Congress, and in which he bore a part. 
One evening, at a reception given by Asbury Dickens, 

" George C. Dromgoole was a representative in Congress frorn Vir- 
ginia ; Ira A. Eastman from New Hampshire, and John T. H. Worth- 
ington from Ohio. 



122 JOHN DAVIS. 

Secretary of the Senate, he espied a young' man 
among the guests wearing full beard and heavy mus- 
tache, something few respectable men had the cour- 
age to indulg'e. In fact a man thus arrayed was set 
down, at that day, as a rogue. Advancing to his 
host, General Davis said to him, pointing out the 
well-whiskered young man, " Mr. Dickens, who is 
that ugly fellow with hair all over his face ?" He 
replied, " General, that is my son." This would 
have embarrassed most men, but General Davis was 
not one of that kind. Nothing daunted, he said to 
Mr. Dickens, "You will do him a great kindness if 
you take him to a barber." Those who overheard 
the colloquy enjoyed it, and thought the General 
had the best of it. 

The contest for President, in 1840, between Mar- 
tin VanBuren and William Henry Harrison " was a 
very lively one. It is known as the " Hard Cider 
and Log Cabin " ''' campaign, and the juice of the 

"■' William Henry Harrison, born in Virginia, in 1773, was the ninth 
President of the United States. He was aide-de-camp to Wayne in his 
expedition against the Western Indians, in 1792. He resigned from the 
army, in 1797, to accept the Secretaryship of the Northwest Territory. He 
was, in succession, a delegate in Congress from that Territory ; Governor 
of the Territory of Indiana ; Major-General in the army, and gained the 
battles of Tippecanoe and the Thames ; a member of Congress and the 
United States Senate, and Minister to Columbia. He was defeated for 
President in 1836, but elected in 1840, dying April 4, 1841, one month 
after his inauguration. 

I'' The Presidential contest of 1840 was called the " Log Cabin and Hard 
Cider " campaign because log cabins were carried to the meetings on 



JOHN DAVIS. 123 

apple flowed from many a cabin at public meetings, 
while the real or pretended statesmen discussed the 
political issues. General Davis took an active part 
for Mr. VanBuren. He made several speeches, in 
which he discussed the finance and tariff. The In- 
dependent Treasury bill, which had not yet passed, 
was attacked with savage fierceness, and the most im- 
probable stories told of the effect it would have upon 
the country, should it become a law. It had a good 
deal to do with deciding the contest. The speeches 
of General Davis attracted the attention of John 
Quincy Adams, while on the stump in New Jersey, 
and he thought them important enough to reply to. 
The campaign resulted in the defeat of Mr. Van- 
Buren, and the election of General Harrison. 

General Davis maintained friendly relations with 
Mr. VanBuren after he retired from the Presidency, 
and some correspondence passed between them. In 
a letter written from Kinderhook, in November, 1842, 
the ex-President says : 

" I beg you to accept my unfeigned thanks for the 
friendly sentiments contained in your letter, and to 
be assured that they are very sincerely reciprocated. 
I shall always remember, with pleasure, the frank 
and honest character of our intercourse while in the 
public service, and, it is with great sincerity, that I 



wheels, and from them strong cider was served to all comers. On some 
occasions the political meetings were akin to orgies. The practice was 

demoralizing. 



124 JOHN DAVIS. 

say to you, that I found none in whose integrit)' and 
patriotism I reposed greater confidence." 

This was a high compliment coming from such a 
distinguished source. He was twice renominated 
for Congress, but defeated at the polls by a small 
majority because of some disaffection in the Demo- 
cratic ranks. 

The able and consistent course of General Davis 
in Congress made him a prominent man in Pennsyl- 
\ania politics, and few wielded greater influence. 
His name was mentioned in several parts of the 
State in connection with the next Democratic nomi- 
nation for Governor. A prominent gentleman, in 
the West, wrote him on this subject, under date of 
October 26, 1841 : 

" A number of men, strong and influential in the 
West, have hit upon you as the successor of David 
R. Porter. This conclusion is come to, not from 
any sinister, or pecuniary, motives, but from the 
simple fact that you are the man, and the only man, 
who will meet the wishes and expectations of the 
Democratic party in the State. A delicacy, probably, 
on your part, would say that you should not be a candi- 
date, but that delicacy must be overcome, when the 
fact is known, that the interests of the party are to 
be benefited by an approval, upon your part, in your 
real, genuine and true friends. We will receive no 
denial. Leave yourself in the hands of those who 
will endeavor to manage matters in their proper 
light, and there will be no danger. I have watched 
vour course while a member of Congress, and it 



JOHN DAVIS. 12.-. 

meets my decided approbation It is from this cir- 
cumstance I, and those with whom I act, have 
thought proper to pursue this course." 

He received other letters to the same import, but 
nothing came of it. His defeat for re-election to 
Congress, in 1842, may have diverted attention from 
him. The choice of the party fell upon that excel- 
lent gentleman, Francis R. Shunk,'"'a warm personal 
and political friend of General Davis, and whose 
nomination and election he supported with zeal. 

General Davis closed his Congressional career 
with the session of 1 840-41, and returned home to 
resume his private business. His two years in Con- 
gress gave him the opportunity of making the ac- 
quaintance of the leading statesmen of the country. 
Among others, he enjoyed the confidence and 
esteem of John C. Calhoun," Thomas H. Benton,'" 



'8 Francis R. Shunk was born at the Trappe, Montgomery county, Pa., 
August 7, 1788; his grandfather having immigrated from the Palatinate 
of the Rhine, in 1715. He was brought up to labor, but devoted his spare 
time to study. He was a school teacher at fifteen, and at Iw-enty was ap- 
pointed a clerk in the Surveyor-General's office, Harrisburg. While thus 
employed he read law. He was Assistant Clerk, and Clerk of the House 
of Representatives ; Secretary to the Board of Canal Commissioners ; and 
was chosen Secretary of State, by Governor Porter, in 1838. He was 
elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 1844, and re-elected in 1847, but was 
prostrated by the fatal disease that terminated his life soon after he entered 
upon his second term. He died, in July, 1848, the day he wrote his 
resignation. Governor Shunk was a self-made man, of high character and 
noble ambition. 

" John C. Calhoun was a native of South Carolina, and bred to tlie 
profession of the law. He first entered Congress in 1811, and soon took a 



126 JOHN DAVIS. 

James Buchanan, afterward President of the United 
States; Dixon H. Lewis," and Silas Wright.'" With 
some of them he was an occasional, or frequent, 
correspondent, and maintained friendly relations to 
their death, he surviving; them all. Althoug-h out of 



prominent position. He was a strong advocate of war with Great Britain. 
He was appointed Secretary of War, by Monroe, in 1817 ; and chosen Vice 
President of the United States in 1824. He resigned that office to accept 
a seat in the United States Senate, of which he became one of the most 
distinguished members. He was a leader in the Nullification excitement. 
Mr. Calhoun died in 1850, at the age of sixty-eight. 

1" Thomas Hart Benton was born in North Carolina in 1782, and died 
in Washington in 1858. He removed to Tennessee with his mother, 
where he read law, and soon rose to eminence in his profession. He was 
aide-de-camp to General Jackson in the War of 1812-15, and after peace 
was declared removed to Missouri, where he devoted himself to his pro- 
fession, but soon entered into politics. He was elected to the United 
States Senate soon after Missouri was admitted, and sat in it almost con- 
tinuously until his death. Mr. Benton was a man of commanding intel- 
lect, and exerted great influence in public affairs, but was arbitrary and 
domineering. His " Thirty Years' View " was the work of his closing 
years. He bore a conspicuous part in the debate on the Compromise 
measures of 1850 The country has had few abler 'public men. His influ- 
ence in Missouri, at one time, was almost autocratic. He was mainly 
instrumental in causing the resolution of censure, against President Jack- 
son, for removing the public deposits from the United States bank, to be 
expunged, 

'" Dixon H. Lewis was several years a member of Congress from Ala- 
bama, and then transferred to the Senate. He was the largest man, 
physically, in either House, and of very considerable mental power. 

2" Silas Wright, a Senator in Congress from New York, was one of the 
ablest men that State ever produced. He declined to accept the nomina- 
tion for Vice President, in 1844, on the ticket with Mr. Polk, because his 
friend Martin VanBuren was not selected for the first place. To accept 
would lay him open to the charge of bargain and sale. Public men are not 
alway so conscientious and honorable. 



JOHN DAVIS. 127 

public life, and closely confined by business alTairs, 
he was not unmindful of what was going on in the 
political world. He was active in county, State and 
Federal politics, and his influence was felt whenever 
a ticket was to be nominated and elected. His ad- 
vice, in party councils, was always prudent, and 
frequently adopted. He made frequent visits to 
Harrisburg and Washington, to renew old acquaint- 
ance, and compare notes with party leaders, and 
was a pretty regular attendant at State and National 
conventions. During a thunder storm, in the sum- 
mer of 1839, ^^^ barn was struck by lightning and 
burned to the ground with the contents, but that 
did not deter him from starting to Harrisburg the 
next morning to attend a Democratic convention. 
Barn or no barn, the interests of his party could not 
be neglected. He was too deeply attached to his 
party to lose sight of its inside and outside workings. 
This interest was maintained to his death. 



chaptp:r viir. 

They, vv^ho remember the Presidential contest of 
1844, will call to mind that it was one of the most 
heated the country had ever witnessed. The Demo- 
crats nominated James K. Polk,' of Tennessee, a 
conservative statesmen long in public life ; while 
the Whig's selected Henr\' Clay," one of the foremost 
men of the land, and with great pergonal popularity, 
for their standard-bearer. The country was fairly 
alive with meetings. I-ong processions, with flags, 
banners and music, and graced with the presence of 



' James K. Polk, the eleventh President, was born in Nf)rth Carolina, 
and removed with his parents to Tennessee in boyhood. He studied law 
and was admitted to the bar ; was elected to the Legislature, and then en- 
tered Congfress, of which he was Speaker fourteen years. He was elected 
Governor in 1839, ^^^ President in 1844. His administration, a successful 
one, embraced the period of the Mexican War, which pushed our boundaries 
to the Rio Grande and the Pacific. This acquisition of territory was of 
incalculable value to the country. 

^ Henry Clay, one of the most distinguished of American statesmen, 
was born in Virginia, the 12th of April, 1777, and died July 29, 1852. He 
was a member of Congress, and four times Speaker, a Senator, and four 
times nominated for President, but defeated on each occasion. He was a 
prominent advocate of the declaration of war against Great Britain, and 
one of the Commissioners to conclude the treaty of peace. He was promi- 
nently identified with the passage of the Missouri Compromise, and was 
the author of the " American system " of levying duties on imports. He 
left his impress upon the legislation of the country. Mr. Clay's eloquence 
was very persuasive, and he was the idol of his political friends. 



JOHN DAVIS. 129 

women, traversed the land. The political rostrum 
had nev^er known so many, nor such eloquent, 
stumpers, and hundreds of coming statesmen drew 
their maiden swords in that campaign. The body 
politic, from Maine to the then far West, and from 
the Great Lakes to the Gulf, seemed stirred to its 
deepest depths. It was probably the best example 
of a popular election ever held in the United States. 

General Davis, still in the prime of life, and in 
full intellectual vigor, threw himself into the contest 
with all his might. The tariff was again the issue, 
and he was found fully prepared to grapple with the 
theories of those who opposed the doctrine of the 
Democratic party. He took the stump at the open- 
ing of the campaign, and (inly laid aside his weapons 
and hauled down his flag when the battle was over 
and the victory won. He made many speeches, at 
home and abroad, and discussed the tariff and other 
issues with all worthy foemen who threw down their 
glove. 

So prominent did he become as a controversalist, 
and so hard were the blows he dealt at adverse sys- 
tems, the Whig leaders of Philadelphia thought it 
best to defend against him. For this purpose they 
sent Josiah Randall, Esq.,' father of ex-Speaker 

3 Josiah Randall, a distinguished lawyer of Philadelphia, was born in 
that city July 21. 1789, and died September 10, 1866. He read law with 
Joseph Reed, and was appointed clerk of the Mayor's court soon after his 
admission to the bar. He was a member of the Junior Artillerists, In 1812. 



130 JOHN DAVIS, 

Randall, and an able member of that bar, and 
Edward Joy Morris, Esq.,* a prominent political 
leader, into Bucks county to break the force of his 
arguments. He met them in discussion at several 
points, and the victory was generally acknowledged 
to remain with the Rucks county farmer. Their 
rhetoric and eloquence were not a match for his 
facts. One of these discussions took place in the 
court house, at Doylestown. These debates attracted 
general attention in the State and out of it, and Mr. 
Polk, the Democratic candidate, was especially in- 
terested in them. He believed his election impossi- 
ble without carrying Pennsylvania, and the effective 
work done by General Davis, and those who held his 
views on the tariff, and none were more active than 
he, gave Mr. Polk the electoral vote of the State, 
and secured his election. 

When the new administration came into power, 
the 4th of March, 1845, ^h*^ valuable services, ren- 
dered by General Davis during the campaign, were 
not forgotten. He was appointed Surveyor of the 



and Colonel at the close of the war. He was a member of the Lej^islature, 
in 1819, but held no other office. He was a devoted friend of Henry Clay, 
and a warm advocate of his " American system." 

* Edward Joy Morris was born in Philadelphia, July i6, 1815, and was 
graduated at Harvard College. He was a member of the Legislature, in 
1841-2-3, and 1856, and a member of the Twenty-eighth, Thirty-fifth, 
Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congress. He was Charge d'Affairs at 
Naples, 1850-54, and Minister to Turkey, 1861-70. He was the author of 
several books, including "The Turkish Empire, Civil and Political." 



JOHN DAVIS. 131 

Port of Philadelphia, the first appointment made 
after the confirmation of the Cabinet. This office 
he held for four years, and discharged the duties in 
the most satisfactory manner. Major John P. Heiss,* 
of Nashville, Tennessee, but formerly of Bristol, 
Bucks county, and an intimate friend of Mr. Polk, 
wrote him from Washington the 15th of March, con- 
gratulating him on his appointment, and said : " It 
was only necessary for the name of John Davis to be 
placed before the President to secure anything in his 
gift. He acted immediately on the reading of your 
papers." Major Heiss presented the General a hand- 
some hickory cane cut from the Hermitage, General 
Jackson's residence, mounted with a silver head 



» John P. Heiss, the son of Captain John P. Heiss, of Bristol, Bucks 
county, Pa,, was born in 1814. He married and went into business early, 
but lost his wife and failed. He now went South, and found employment 
in a printing office at Nashville, Tennessee. Here it was his fortune to 
rescue, from the hands of an assailant, an old gentleman, a warm friend 
of General Jackson, who, riding by at the time, thanked him. He was 
invited to dine at the Hermitage, a few days afterward, where he met 
many prominent people, including him whom he had rescued. This acci- 
dental encounter in the streets of Nashville made him powerful friends, 
who pushed his fortune. He took a warm interest in the nomination of 
Mr. Polk, and an active part in his election. He accompanied him to 
Washington, and through the influence of the President and General 
Jackson was made a partner with Mr. Ritchie in the publication of the 
Washington Union, the organ of the administration. He was afterward 
interested in mining in Mexico, but lost the greater part of his fortune. 
He died at sea, on his return from Mexico, August 22, 1865. Among his 
last words, and now inscribed on his tombstone, were, " I am willing to 
die ; there is rest in heaven." 



132 JOHN DAVIS. 

suitabl)^ inscribed, in token of his appreciation of his 
services in the campaign. Tliis souv^enir is still in 
the family. 

When the new Surveyor of the Port came to ap- 
point his staff of assistants, he made John W. Forney," 
the bosom friend of James Buchanan, his deputy, 
and his neighbor, David Marple,' of Warminster, his 

" John \V. Forney was born in Lancaster, Pa., about 1818, and died in 
Philadelphia at the age of sixty-four. He was a man of great ability and 
had a brilliant career. He took charge of the Lancaster Intelligencer at 
twenty ; was editor of the Pentisylvaiiian, and Deputy Sun'eyor of the 
Port of Philadelphia from 1845 to 1849. He was the editor of the Wash- 
ington Union during President Pierce's administration, and established 
The Press in 1857. He was Clerk of the House of Representatives, and 
Secretary of the Senate, of the United States. He was a powerful writer. 
and in his best days wielded great influence. In manners he was a 
polished gentleman ; was loyal to his friends, and hated his enemies. 

' David Marple, the son of Nathan and Elizabeth Verkes Marple, born at 
Hatboro, Montgomery county, Pa., September 30, 1795, was married to Eliza 
Ann, daughter of Joseph Hart, of Warminster, December 2, 1817. The 
family originally came from Wales and settled in Delaware county, where 
a township and post office bear the name. He settled in Bucks, where he 
spent the greater part of his life ; was the father of a large family of chil- 
dren, and a prominent citizen. He served as Orderly Sergeant in the 
campaign of 1814, and after peace took an active part in military affairs, 
reaching the rank of Colonel. He was Register of Wills of the county, 
and four years chief clerk of General Davis, Surveyor of the Port of Phila- 
delphia, from 1845 to 1849. The family removed to Kansas after the 
death of his wife, where he died April 5, 1878. Few families furnished 
more soldiers to the Federal army during the Civil War ; five sons fought 
for the Union, and made good records. Alfred and William Warren were 
Captains in the One Hundred and Fourth Pa. Regiment, the latter being 
promoted to Colonel of the Thirty-fourth United States Colored Troops. 
Joseph and Silas enlisted in the Eleventh Kansas, the latter being com- 
missioned Lieutenant in the Sixty-fifth United States Colored Troops, 



JOHN DAVIS. 13?. 

clerk. He continued to reside at Davisville, during 
his term of office, driving into town Monday morn- 
ing, and returning home Saturday evening. At that 
day there were no convenient raih'oad trains to carry 
one to and from the city, daily. He left the Sur- 
veyor's Office in March, 1849, soon after the 
inauguration of President Taylor," and the appoint- 
ment of a successor. His accounts, always kept in 
good shape, were quickly settled, and he again laid 
aside the cares of office and took up the more agree- 
able roll of private citizen. He again gave his entire 
attention to private business. 

The war with Mexico was the feature of Mr. Polk's 
administration." While it was severely criticized, it 

and both died in service. Nathan was Lieutenant in the One Hundred and 
Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, and was taken prisoner at Chan- 
cellorsville. The wife of Colonel Marple, when a young- girl, read the arti- 
cles of emancipation to her father's slaves in the northeast room of the 
Warminster mansion. 

« Zachary Taylor, the twelfth President, was born in Virginia, reared in 
Kentucky, and a soldier by profession. He entered the army in 1808, and 
distinguished himself in the War of 1812-15, and the Seminole War. He 
rendered important services in the Mexican War, and his victory at Buena 
Vista had an important influence on the termination of the contest. He 
was elected President in 1848, and fell sick while Congress was discussing 
the " Omnibus bill," brought forward by Henry Clay to settle the questions 
growing out of the acquisition of new territory under the treaty with 
Mexico, and died July 9, 1850. 

i* The Mexican War was hastened by the annexation of Texas by 
Tyler's administration, March i, 1845, and ratified by the Texan Legisla- 
ture the 4th of July following. In January, 1S46, General Taylor, with 
about 2,500 troops, was ordered to advance to the Rio Grande, and on the 
8th and gth of May were fought the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la 



134 JOHN DAVIS. 

is an undeniable fact, that the series of outrages 
committed on citizens of the United States, for 
which there was no redress, ivould have caused war 
with any European power years before. At its close, 
this remarkable feature was presented : The United 
States bound herself, by treaty obligation, to pay a 
money value for territory already hers by right of 
conquest. It gave us an undisputed title to Cali- 
fornia and the great central region of the Continent, 
rich, beyond compute, in mineral wealth, and ex- 
tenoed our southwestern boundary to the Rio Grande 
del Norte.'" The result of the war was a great 
benefit to the United States, and we doubt whether 
its most bitter opponent would be willing to restore 
our anti-war boundaries. 

Since then our progress has been little less than 
marvelous. At the close of the war the population 
of the United States was 22,000,000, and the Union 

Palma, in which our little army was victorious with small loss. When 
this news reached Washington. Congress declared that war already existed 
by the act of the Mexican g-overnment, and the President was authorized to 
accept the services of 50,000 volunteers, and ten millions of money were 
placed at his disposal. This was followed by the invasion of Mexico, by 
armies under Scott and Taylor, and a series of brilliant victories. A 
treaty was concluded on the 2d of February, 1S48 ; was ratified by both 
governments, and President Polk issued a proclamation of peace on the 
4th of July. 

1" The Rio Grande, the "Great River" in both Spanish and Portu- 
guese, rises in the Rocky mountains in the southwest of Colorado, and has 
acourse of 1,800 miles to the Gulf of Mexico, forming for 1,100 miles the 
boundary between the United States and Mexico. Owing to the shallow- 
ness of its current, it is only navigable 450 miles. 



JOHN DAVIS, 13o 

composed of thirty States. Now it is almost 60,000,- 
000, and the Union has grown to thirty-eight States. 
Then there were but four' States and one Territory 
west of the Mississippi, and the vast remainder, 
reaching across the continent, was a wilderness of 
plain and mountain and desert, except the few 
Mexican settlements fringing the Rio Grande, and 
the Mormon emigrants which had just planted 
themselves on Salt Lake. Within this region are 
now twelve States and eight organized Territories, 
one of the States containing a million and a half of 
inhabitants. It is traversed by numerous railroads, 
several uniting the Atlantic with the Pacific, and one 
carries the iron horse to the Halls of the Montezu- 
mas. This wonderful development was, in a great 
measure, the legitimate outcome of the Mexican 
War. The possession of the Pacific coast, and the 
discovery of gold in California, stimulated enterprise 
almost beyond belief, and lifted the country forward 
a quarter of a century in the race of empire. The 
importance of these acquisitions was only second to 
that which secured to us the undisputed possession 
of both banks of the Mississippi. The time will 
come when the administration of James K. Polk will 
be considered one of the most brilliant in our history. 
The Mexican War was a series of skillful and 
brilliant movements. We always fought against 
odds, and the enemy gcnerall)' selected the theatre 
of operations. The Mexicans make good soldiers ; 



136 JOHN DAVIS. 

possess great powers of endurance, and yield readily 
to discipline, but they are not as well led and handled 
as our own or European armies. .Scott entered the 
Valley of Mexico with but ten thousand men, cutting" 
himself clear of his base of supplies. All the ap- 
proaches to the capital were well fortified by nature 
and art ; were manned by a superior force and should 
have been held against inferior numbers. The 
march from the Gulf to the Valley was quite as 
audacious and brilliant as that of Hernando Cortez 
three centuries and a quarter before. 

That war made General Taylor President. His 
name was first publicly mentioned, in connection with 
the nomination, by an ofificer of my own regiment, at a 
4th of July dinner, at Monterey, in 1847. When the 
occasion was about to close, a Lieutenant arose and 
drank: "General Taylor, we hail him as the next 
President." The General arose and returned thanks, 
and sat down amid cheers. When the Whig con- 
vention met, in 1848, he was put at the head of the 
ticket, and Millard Fillmore," of New York, was nomi- 



" Millard Fillmore, thirteenth President, was born in Cayuga county, 
New York, January 7th, 1800. He received but little education, and at 14 
was apprenticed to the fullers trade. He bought the last year of his time 
to commence the study of the law, paying his way by working and teaching. 
He was admitted to the bar at 23, and settled at Aurora. He gradually 
grew in the confidence of the public, and into practice, and removed to 
Buffalo, in 1830. He was elected to the Legislature in 1828, serving three 
terms ; to Congress in 1832, and four times re-elected, retiring in March, 
1843 ; and was made State Controller, in 1847. He was elected Vice Presi- 



JOHN DAVIS. 137 

nated for Vice President. On the Democratic side, 
Lewis Cass,"* of Michigan, was the candidate for Presi- 
dent and William O. Butler," of Kentuck)-, for Vice 
President. A split in the Democratic ranks elected the 
Whig ticket. General Davis was a warm supporter 
of the war ; n.ot only because he believed right to be 



dent, with Genera! Taylor. ;n 1F4S, and on the latter dying, July 9, 1850, 
he was inaugurated President. He died March 8, 1874. 

12 Lewis Cass, the son of Jonathan Ca=s, a Captain in the Revolutionary 
Army, was born in New Hampshire, October 9, 1782. The family re- 
moved to Ohio, near Zanesville, in 1709, where Lewis read law, was admitted 
to the bar, and married. He was, soon afterward, elected to the Ohio 
Legislature. He served with distinction in the War of 1812-15, raising to 
the rank of Brigadier-General, and about its close was appointed Governor 
of Michigan Territory. He removed his family to Detroit, in 1815, and 
made that his residence for life. He administered the affairs of the Terri- 
tory with great ability. He was appointed Secretary of War in 1831, and 
Ambassador to France in 1836. While there he was instrumental in de- 
feating the Quintuple Treaty, which yielded the right of search to Great 
Britain. He returned home at the close of 1842. He took his seat in the 
United States Senate, in December, 1845, and served therein, with dis- 
tinction, until March, 1857, when he took a seat in Mr. Buchanan's Cabi- 
net, as Secretary of State, with which he closed his public life. He died 
June 17th, 1866. General Cass held broad views on all subjects, was cul- 
tured, and thoroughly American. 

13 William Orlando Butler was born in Kentucky, in 1792, whither his 
father had removed from Pennsylvania, in 1784. He distinguished him- 
self in the War of 1812-15 ; was breveted Major at New Orleans, and was 
Aide-de-camp to General Jackson. He resigned his commission in 1817, 
and resumed the profession of the law. He sat in Congress from 1839 to 
1843 ; was candidate for Governor of Kentucky, in 1844, but defeated by 
the influence of Mr. Clay. He was Major-General in the War with 
Mexico, and succeeded General Scott in command. Congress voted him a 
sword in testimony of his services, in 1847. He was nominated for Vice 
President in 184S, after his return from Me.\ico, but defeated. He and 
General Davis sat in Congress together. 



I3S JOHN DAVIS, 

on our side, but because his only son was one of the 
combattants. Holding an important public office 
prevented him taking the active part, he usually took, 
in the political campaign of 1848, but he gave the 
ticket a warm support. The Democratic platform 
endorsed the Mexican War, while the Whig party 
presented the anomaly of opposing the war, while 
they voted for one of the heroes of it. 

In the summer following his retirement from the 
Surveyor's Office, he made a trip to Ohio, accom- 
panied by one of his daughters, to visit his aged 
mother, whom he had not seen since 18 16, the year 
the family removed from Maryland. The meeting 
was an interesting, and affecting, one. His mother 
was then in her 85th year, and, although she had not 
seen her son for thirty-three years, she recognized 
him on sight, and gave him a most cordial welcome. 
This was their last meeting on earth, as she died the 
following year. He returned home by the way of 
the Great Lakes, which afforded him an opportunity 
of observing the wonderful progress the country was 
making in that region. 

Although General Davis had reached an age when 
the average man loses interest in the affairs of life, 
especially politics, he retained his accustomed hold 
on them. The Presidential campaign of 1852, be- 
tween Franklin Pierce''' and Winfield Scott, in which 

'* j^ranklin Pierce, the fourteenth President of the United States, 



JOHN DAVIS. ' l:]<) 

the former was elected by an overwhelming majority, 
found him prepared for an active participation, and 
he again took the stump. The election of General 
Pierce gave him great satisfaction, and he was a 
warm supporter of his administration. 

General Davis had been almost a life-long friend 
of James Buchanan,'" and to see him elevated to the 
Presidency was one of his darling objects. The 
Democratic party of Pennsylvania had pushed him 
to the front for many years, as her favorite son, and 
considered him the embodiment of their political 
hopes. General Davis was one of the most active 
in every movement favorable to his elevation to the 

a descendant of a Revolutionary soldier, was born in New Hampshire, in 
1804, and graduated at Bowdoin College. He was bred to the law, and 
was a politician and statesman of ability. He was a General of brigade in 
the Mexican War ; and served a term in the United States Senate. He 
was nominated for President, by the Democrats, in 1852, and elected over 
General Winfield Scott. He died October 8th, 1869. 

'* James Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the United States, was 
born in Franklin county. Pa., the 13th of April, 1791. He was educated to 
the profession of the law, but entered politics soon after his admission to 
the bar. He had served several years in Congress, where he took a lead- 
ing part, when President Jackson appointed him Minister to Russia, in 
1831. On his return he was elected to the Senate of the United States, 
and from that position he was called to the office of Secretary of State 
under President Polk. In 1853 ^^c ^'^-S appointed Minister to England, 
which he held until he was nominated for President, in 1856. He was 
elected over John C. Fremont, by planting himself on a platform of prin- 
ciples, in which the doctrine of the Kansas-Nebraska bill was distinctly 
affirmed. His administration was a stormy one, and closed on the eve of 
the great Civil War. He was a statesman of great ability and purity of 
public and private character. Mr. Buchanan died at Lancaster, June 1, 1868. 



140 JOHN DAVrS. 

exalted position he sought, and his nomination, in 
1856, was, therefore, exceedingly gratifying. The 
Republican party had just come into existence, and 
was pitted against the Democratic for the first time. 
This fact, probably, increased the warmth of the 
campaign. Its candidate, John C. Freemont,'" was 
popular with his party, and the contest was a close 
one. General Davis made many speeches in the 
campaign, in various parts of the State, and when 
the counting of the votes showed his old friend to be 
elected, it seemed the crowning satisfaction of a life- 
time of politics. At the first visit he paid the Presi- 
dent after the new administration had come into 
power, Mr. Buchanan asked him what ofifice he 
wished. He replied he neither asked for, nor would 
he accept anything, having outlived his ambition for 
public employment. 

Their intimate relations were interrupted during 
Mr. l^uchanan's term of office and never renewed. 
The breech was caused by the Kansas-Nebraska 
policy" of the administration, which proved a 

1" John Charles Fremont, the son of a French father and an American 
mother, was born at Savannah, Ga , in 1813. In early life he was Pro- 
fessor of Mathematics in the Navy ; then a surveyor and railroad engineer. 
In 1838 President VanBuren appointed him a Lieutenant of Topographical 
Engineers, and in the next six years he made his explorations across the 
continent. He took a prominent part in the operations that gave us pos- 
session of California, in 1846, on the breaking out of the Mexican War. 
He resigned his commission, Lieutenant-Colonel, in 1S48. His services in 
the Civil War, and his political course, are well known. 

" The " Kansas-Nebraska Policv," as it was known at that dav, grew 



JOHN DAVIS. 141 

skeleton in the closet to political ties of a lifetime. 
It was made a party question, and Democrats, who 
did not acquiesce, were read out of the political 
brotherhood, "without benefit of clergy." Gen- 
eral Davis was one of the men who refused to en- 
dorse this policy. He believed it to be contrary to 
what the party had announced in its National plat- 
form, and he had advocated on the stump. He was 
not willing to stultify himself. He was in favor of 
carrying out, after the election, the pledges made to 
the people before it. He would not allow an ad- 
ministration, he had assisted to bring into power, to 
dictate views to him on a great question, different 
from those agreed upon in the nominating conven- 
tion. He had advocated Mr. Buchanan's election 
in good faith, and he could not consistently follow 
him in what he considered a repudiation of princi- 
ple. This separation of old friends was unfortunate. 
The estrangements on this account were many, and 
it was the cause of great bitterness toward Mr. 

out of a bill introduced by Senator Douglass into the United States Senate, 
in January, 1854. It provided for the organization of the Territories of 
Kansas and Nebraska, and in it was a clause giving the people of those Ter- 
ritories, in forming their Constitutions, the right to decide for themselves^ 
whether the new States should be free or slave-holding. This was a virtual 
repeal of the Missouri Compromise, as these Territories lay north of the 
parallel of 36 degrees, 30 minutes, and gave rise to violent opposition. 
The bill was debated from January until May, when it passed and was 
signed by the President. It was thought to be a compromise, but it in- 
creased sectional antagonisms, and made Kansas a battle-field for contend- 
ing parties. It probably hastened the war. 



142 JOHN DA VIP. 

Buchanan, even to the extent of charging him with 
treason in the days immediately preceding the 
breaking out of the Civil War. This charge, how- 
ever, could not be sustained, and history has already 
vindicated him. 

When the Presidential election of i860 came 
round, General Davis, although past the age of 
threescore and ten, again buckled on his armor and 
took the field. There was great division in the 
Democratic party, caused by the Slavery question, 
and two candidates were placed in nomination, 
Stephen A. Douglass,'** of Illinois, and John C. 
Breckenridge,'" of Kentucky. The former was the 



'» Stephen Arnold Doufjlass, the son of a physician of Brandon, Ver- 
mont, was born April 23, 1813. His father died when he was an infant. 
He had to struggle with poverty in his youth, but finished his education, 
and settled at Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1S33. Here he taught school, 
clerked, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1834. He soon 
acquired a large practice, and rose rapidly in public estimation. He was 
appointed Attorney-General of the State in 1835 ; elected to the Legislature 
in 1837 ; Judge of the Supreme Court of Illinois, in 1841 ; to Congress in 
1843 ; and to the Senate in March, 1847, where he remained, a leading 
member, until his death, June 3, 1861. He was a chief promoter of the 
measures which led to the annexation of Texas, and brought on the 
Mexican War. He was the author of what is known as " Popular 
Sovereignty," and made vigorous opposition to the admission of Kansas 
under the Lecompton Constitution. He was one of the Democratic can- 
didates for President in i860, and received a large vote. When the Civil 
War broke out he denounced secession as criminal, and was one of the 
strongest advocates for maintaining the integrity of the Union. Mr. 
Douglass was one of the foremost statesmen, and his death was a great 
loss to the country. 

'* John C. Breckenridge was born near Lexington, Kentucky, January 



JOHN DAVIP. 143 

ret^ularly nominated candidate,\vhile the latter was the 
nominee of the minority of the convention, which se- 
ceded. General Davis, who was his personal friend, 
supported Mr. Douglass, and endorsed his views on 
the great questions of the day. This division in the 
Democratic party led to the election of Mr. Lincoln.'" 
The defeat of Mr. Douglass was a calamity to 
the country, and General Davis predicted the dis- 
astrous results that followed. In looking into the 

i6, 1821 ; educated at Centre College, Kentucky, spent a few months at 
Princeton, studied law at the Transylvania Institute, and was admitted to 
the bar at Lexington. He emigrated to Iowa, where he remained for 
a time and then returned to Kentucky, He was Major of Infantry in the 
Mexican War, and counsel for General Pillow when court-martialed. On 
his return from Mexico he was elected to the Legislature ; and served in 
Congress from 1851 to 1855. In 1856 he was elected Vice President on the 
ticket with Mr. Buchanan ; in i860, the seceders fiom the Democratic 
National Convention nominated him for President ; in 1861 he succeeded 
Mr. Crittenden in the United States Senate, and expelled from that body the 
4th of December. He entered the Rebellion as Major-General, and died 
at Lexington, Ky., May 17, 1875. 

2° Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States, was 
the son of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln, and was born in Kentucky in 
1809. His father removed with his family to Indiana, in 1816, and 
Abraham took up his residence there in 1830. As his father's family 
were very poor, he grew up in great indigence, and received very little 
education. He read law, was admitted to the bar, gradually grew into 
practice, and developed his wonderful qualities, especially his control over 
men. His life was a struggle, and, before he came to the bar, tried various 
employments ; flatboatman, clerk in a store, merchandising, etc. He com- 
manded a company in the Black Hawk War ; was four times a member of 
the Legislature, and elected to Congress in 1846. He was twice elected 
President, in i860 and 1864, and was assassinated in Ford's Theatre, Wash- 
ington, the evening of April 14th, 1865. Mr. Lincoln was a remarkable 
man, and will occupy one of the first places in history. 



144 JOHN DAVIS. 

future, he foresaw the fierce struggle that stained 
the country with the blood of its sons, and so severely- 
tried the stability of our institutions. This was 
his last active participation in party politics, and he 
deeply regretted it did not close with better augury 
for the welfare of the country. He had predicted, 
for many years, that unless agitation on the slavery 
question should cease, it would rend the country and 
lead to war between the sections. It was one of the 
regrets of his life that he lived to see his own pre- 
diction verified. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The period covered by the active political life 
of General Davis, from about 1820 to i860, 
reaching through almost half a century, was the 
"Golden Era" of the Democratic party in the State 
and country. Its management was in strong hands, 
and in Bucks, especially, there was an array of 
leaders seldom equaled. The. party was never so 
strong before nor since. Its principles were well de- 
fined, boldly announced, and adhered to with great 
tenacity. In those days there was little shuffling, 
and the time-server soon " found his occupation 
gone." General harmony prevailed ; and whenever 
defeat overtook the party, the " lesson of adversity " 
was not disregarded. Practical politics were purer 
then than now ; there was no money in it, nor the 
same greed of ofifice. As a rule, the office sought the 
man ; and the writer is old enough to remember when 
he, who pushed his own claims for an elective of^ce, 
was looked upon with suspicion. A public office 
was considered a public trust and not a perquisite. 
That was the day of political leaders, not bosses, 
and what is now known as machine politics had not 
been fashioned. It would be better for the country 
and her institutions were the management of parties 
relegated to the methods of half a centur}^ ago. 



146 JOHN DAVIS. 

Among those active in State palitic? during" all, 
or part, of the period of which we write, and we 
refer only to the Democratic leader:-, may be men- 
tioned James Buchanan, Samuel D. Ingham, George 
M. Dallas,' Jeremiah S. Black,* Francis R. Shunk, 
George Wolf, Henry A. Muhlenberg,' David R. 

' George Mifflin Dallas, son of Alexander J. Dallas, was bom at Phila- 
delphia, July lo, 1792, and died in that city, January i, 1864. He was edu- 
cated at Princeton, read law in his father's office, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1813. He reached distinction in politics. He was appointed 
Deputy Attorney-General, for Philadelphia, in 1817 ; United States Dis- 
trict Attorney, in 1829 ; was elected Mayor of the city ; elected United 
States Senator, in 1831 ; Attorney-General of Pennsylvania ; Minister to 
Russia ; was elected Vice President, in 1844, and represented the United 
States at the Court of Great Britain during Mr. Buchanan's administration. 

^ Jeremiah S. Black, whose father was a man of prominence, and at one 
time a member of Congress, was born in Somerset county. Pa., January 
10, 1810. He was admitted to the bar in 1830 ; became Deputy Attorney- 
General for Somerset county, in 1831 ; was elected President Judge of the 
Judicial District, in 1842 ; Chief Justice of the ^supreme Court of the State, 
in 1851, and re-elected in 1854. He was Attorney-General of the United 
States, in 1857 ; Secretary of State, in i860, both under Mr. Buchanan's 
administration ; Reporter of the Supreme Court of the United States, in 
1862, and member of the Constitutional Convention, in 1872 and 1873. 
Judge Black was one of the ablest jurists the country has produced, and a 
man of the most spotless integrity. He was genial in manners, 
and his conversation was embellished by wit and humor that sparkled 
like diamonds. 

8 Henry Augustus Muhlenberg, son of the Kev. Henry E. Muhlenberg, 
was born at Lancaster, Pa., May 13, 1782. He studied theology, was 
licensed to preach, and took charge of a parish at Reading, Pa., but his 
health becoming impaired, he left the ministry. He was elected to Con- 
gress, in 1829, by the Democrats of the Berks District, Pa., and served with 
distinction until 1838, when President VanBuren appointed him Ambas- 
sador to Austria, where he remained until 1840. He was nominated for 
Governor by a portion of the Democratic party, in 1844, and died, sud- 
denly, August nth, two months prior to the election. 



JOHN DAVIS. 147 

Porter, Simon Cameron/ James M. Porter/ David 
Wilmot," Richard Vaux, John W. Forney, John 



* Simon Cameron was born in Lancaster county, Pa., March 8, 1799. 
He learned the printing trade, and came to Doylestown to edit the 
Messenger before he was twenty-one. He subsequently edited a news- 
paper at Harrisburg. He became active in business affairs early in life ; 
and established the Midddletown bank in 1832. Shortly before this 
Governor Shultze appointed him Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania. He 
was an active politician, and one of the founders of the Republican party. 
He was four times elected to the United States Senate ; in 1845, 1857, 1867, 
and 1873. He resigned his seat in the Senate, in 1861, to become Secretary 
of War under President Lincoln, which he relinquished within a year to 
accept the appointment of Minister to Russia, but remained abroad only 
part of his term. He was one of the very first to recognize the magnitude 
of the War of the Rebellic n, and no one more warmly advocated its 
vigorous prosecution. 

6 James Madison Porter, son of General Andrew Porter of the Con- 
tinental Army, was born in 1792. He studied law, settled at Easton, 
Northampton county, and became a distinguished lawyer. He sat in the 
Constitutional Convention of 1838, and, in 1843, President Tyler appointed 
him Secretary of War, which he held to the close of the administration, 
and subsequently held several places of honor and trust. He was one of 
the founders of Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. He died November 11, 1862. 

' David Wilmot was born in Wayne county, Pa., January 20, 1814 ; 
educated at local academies ; commenced the study of the law at Wilkes- 
barre at eighteen ; admitted to the bar in 1834, and settled at Towanda. 
He was elected to Congress in 1844, '46, and '48, and introduced his cele- 
brated " Proviso," the 8th of August, 1846. He was President Judge of his 
Judicial District from 1853 to 1861. On the formation of the Republican 
party he espoused its principles and acted with it. He declined the nomi- 
nation for Vice President on the ticket with Fremont, in 1856 ; and was 
defeated for Governor by William Fi Packer, in 1857. He was United 
States Senator from 1861 to 1863, filling the unexpired term of Simon 
Cameron, appointed Secretary of War. In 1863 he was appointed a Judge 
of the Court of Claims, which he filled to his death, at Towanda, March 16, 



148 JOHN DAVIS. 

Hickman,' Henry Welsh," William F. Packer,' 
Richard Brodhead.'" John O. James, and others. 
These gentlemen, with but a single exception, began 
their political career in the ranks of the Democratic 



' John Hickman was b(irn near the battle-field of Brandywine, Chester 
county, September ii, 1810. He was admitted to the bar in 1832, and 
soon took a prominent place in the profession as an advocate. He entered 
warmly into politics, and became quite a famous stump speaker. After 
filling the office of District Attorney, he was elected to Congress in 1854, 
and served several terms. He took an active part in all the discussions on 
the slavery question, in its various forms, preceding the Rebellion, and be- 
came a leader among the Republicans. He was an able debater, and a 
scholarly man. He died several years ago. 

* Henry Welsh was a prominent citizen and merchant of York county, 
and active in the councils of the Democratic partv. When President Polk 
came into office, he appointed him Naval Officer at Philadelphia, which 
office he held four years. He and General Davis were on terms of inti- 
macy. He has been dead several years. 

» William F. Packer was born in Centre county, April 2, 1807. Thrown 
on his own resources, by his father dying when he was young, he learned 
the printing trade, and was interested in the publication of several news- 
papers. He assisted to establish The Keystone, at Harrisburg, which, for 
some time, was the recognized organ of the Democratic party of the State. 
Mr. Packer first entered public life as a member of the Board of Canal 
Commissioners, in 1839. Following this he was appointed Auditor- 
General, in 1S42 ; elected to the House of Representatives in 1847, and re- 
elected in 1848 ; to the State Senate in 1849, of which he was an active and 
useful member. He was nominated for Governor in 1857, and elected 
over David Wilmot. His administration was a successful one, and he was 
on the right side of the great questions then absorbing public opinion. He 
and General Davis were warm personal friends. Governor Padker's 
mother was Charity Bye, of Bucks county. 

'" Richard Brodhead was a descendant of Colonel Brodhead, of Revolu- 
tionary fame. After admission to the bar, he settled to the practice of the 
law at Easton, Northampton county. He served in the Legislature, and 
was afterward elected to the United States Senate. He is deceased. 



JOHN DAVIS. 149 

party, but several went over to the opposition, and 
became prominent. The slavery question, and issues 
hinging on it, were the moving cause. 

Mr. Wilmot achieved quite considerable distinc- 
tion. He was in Congress during the Mexican War, 
as a Democrat, and favored the annexation of Texas. 
While the bill was pending to appropriate $2,000,- 
000 for the purchase of a part of Mexico, he moved, 
August 8, 1846, to add an amendment: "That as 
an express and fundamental condition to the acqui- 
sition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico, 
by the United States, neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude shall ever exist in any part of said terri- 
tory." This proposition, known as the " Wilmot 
Proviso," was adopted in the House, but failed in 
the Senate. From that time Mr. Wilmot may be 
considered in the ranks of the opposition, where he 
finished his political career. He was a man of very 
strong convictions, and outspoken in his opinions ; 
greatly beloved by his friends, and unsparingly 
hated by his enemies ; a forcible speaker, and keen 
in debate. He and General Davis were warm per- 
sonal friends while serving under the same political 
banner, and always had great respect for each other. 
John O. James was not an active leader, but wise'in 
counsel, and enjoyed an acquaintance with the lead- 
ing men of both parties. 

The county leaders, most active and influential, 
were Samuel D. Ingham, John Fox, Henry Chap- 



150 JOHN DAVrS. 

man, John Davis, Lewis S. Coryell," Charles H. 
Matthews, William T. Rogers, John S. Bryan, 
Thomas Ross, Samuel A. Smith, William Purdy, 
Andrew Apple,'* and Paul Applebach. They did 
not always agree, for their ambitions too often ran 



" Lewis S. Corj'ell, a man of mark in his day, and the son of Joseph 
Coryell, was born on the site of Lambertville, N. J., in December, 1788. 
He apprenticed himself at fifteen, for six years and one month, to learn the 
carpenter trade, and, at the end of three years and nine months, bought 
his time for $40, and formed a copartnership with Thomas Martin, an 
elder apprentice. They carried on business several years at Morrisville. 
Mr. Coryell next established himself in the lumber business, at New Hope, 
with Joseph D. Murray, under the firm name of Coryell & Murray. He 
was a man of extensive information and a good practical engineer. He 
was an early advocate of internal improvements ; and, in 1818, was ap- 
pointed one of the commissioners to improve the rafting and boating 
channels of the Delaware. He was an active politician, and wielded large 
influence, but never held public office. He had an extensive acquaintance 
with the statesmen of the country, and enjoyed their confidence. He was 
a favorite of President Monroe, and a frequent guest at the White House 
while he occupied it. In the " Buckshot War," 1838, he assisted Thad- 
deus Stevens through a back window of the House of Representatives, at 
Harrisburg, to escape the furj' of the enraged Democrats. Under Mr. 
Tyler's administration, Mr. Coryell was appointed Secret Agent to bring 
Texas into the Union. He was an active supporter of the War of 1812-15, 
and served as baggage-master at camp Marcus Hook. He died at New- 
Hope, in 1865. 

'2 Andrew Apple was the grandson of John Apple, born in Germany 
in 1726, came to America when a young man, settled in Lower Saucon, 
Northampton county, and died in 1803, and the youngest son of Paul 
Apple, born in 1759, and died in 1827. Andrew Apple was born in Spring- 
field township, Bucks county, in 1791, and died in 1875. He was promi- 
nent in county politics and had great influence with the Germans. He 
filled, in succession, the offices of County Commissioner, Treasurer, Di- 
rector of the Poor, and was twice elected Associate-Judge of the county. 
He served a tour of duty at Marcus Hook, in command of a company of 
militia. 



i 



''■m' 




JOHN DAVIS. 151 

in the same channel. At times they gave and re- 
ceived heavy blows within their own lines, and occa- 
sionally want of harmony led to a defeat of their 
candidates, but they never lost their respect for each 
other. Most of them reached positions of promi- 
nence and influence. Mr. Ingham, after serving 
several terms in Congress, left the House for the 
Treasury ; Messrs. Chapman, Ross and Davis sat in 
Congress, and Chapman and Fox worthily wore the 
ermine, but neither Fox nor Coryell would accept 
political office. Rogers served eight years in the 
State Senate, and was Speaker of the same his last 
session, the only presiding officer of either House 
Bucks county has had since the Revolution. Judge 
Chapman, the only one of these leaders now living, 
1886, is in the enjoyment of an honored old age. 

Of the mentioned State leaders, General Cameron 
is the only one living. He was a Democrat down to 
some time in the fifties, and an active participant in 
State and local politics. He was an able leader. He 
and General Davis were warm personal, as well as 
political, friends, and their personal friendship was 
maintained until General Davis' death. They became 
acquainted earl)^ in life. In 1820, Simon Cameron, 
then a young jour printer, just out of his time, was 
invited to Doylestown to take charge of the Bucks 
County Messenger, one of the rival Democratic news- 
papers assisting each other to tear the party to 



152 JOHN DAVIS. 

pieces. Benjamin Mifflin/^ from Philadelphia, was 
the proprietor of the Democrat. The coming of 
young Cameron had been heralded, and considerable 
interest felt in the arrival of the "new printer." He 
and Mifflin came up in the stage together from 
Philadelphia, but were unknown to each other. 
The passengers freely discussed the newspaper situ- 
ation at Doylestown, and the new editor for the 
Messenger, but Cameron wisely kept his peace. 
When the stage stopped at the hotel, and the young 
stranger was greeted as " Mr. Cameron," by the 
friends who expected him, there was some dismay 
on the other side. He issued his first number 
January 2, 1821, but before the year was out the 
rival papers were consolidated under the late General 
William T. Rogers, and there was peace again in the 
Democratic household. General Cameron, who has 
had one of the most remarkable careers of any public 
man in the country, is living at the ripe old age of 
eighty-seven, respected by all. 

A history of the politics of the county, for this 
period, would make an interesting chapter, but we 
have no room for it here. We have often thought 
the leaders made the political movements of that 



's Benjamin Mifflin came from Philadelphia to take charge of the 
Democrat, which he purchased in December, 1820, whither he returned 
after the two papers were consolidated. He was one of the proprietors of 
the Pennsylvanian several years, and died in that city. Of his descent and 
parentag;e we know nothing. 



JOHN DAVIS. 15S 

day a more serious business than now. The county 
conventions were always largely attended ; at times 
the proceedings were deeply interesting, and there 
were warm debates. That w;is the day, at least down 
to within thirty years, of militia and volunteer 
trainings, and these martial displays were an impor- 
tant factor in local politics. To be a military ofificer 
was considered a stepping-stone to political prefer- 
ment. The battalion trainings were attended by the 
leading politicians of both parties, for the purpose 
of conferring about party affairs, and not infrequently 
made the occasion of putting candidates in the field. 
The militar)' trainings, in the upper end, drew 
together a large concourse of people. The young 
Germans, male and female, flocked thither, and made 
them the occasion of much enjoyment. It was the 
habit of many of the German girls, forty years ago, 
to go to the " Battalion," the name for these martial 
gatherings, bare-footed, carrying their shoes and 
stockings, which they put on when the dancing be- 
gan. If the young people of that day lacked grace 
when they " tripped the light fantastic toe," they 
made it up in the earnest way they went about the 
business. Certain public houses were resorted to 
by politicians to learn, and discuss, the news. We 
have already mentioned the Black Bear, in North- 
ampton township, as a political trysting place. 
Keichline's tavern,'* now Pipersville, in Bedminster, 

" Keichline's tavern was a famous hostelry, at the intersection of the 



154 JOHN DAVIS. 

was noted as a stopping' place for politicians, g'ofnof 
to or returning from the upper end. Colonel Keich- 
line'^and his wife were both deeply interested in 
politics. Mrs. Keichline,'" the daughter of Colonel 
Piper, was a born Democrat, and took to politics as 
readily as Richelieu " to statecraft. Many an anxious 
candidate received timely advice from her that saved 
his fortunes. 



Durham and Easton roads, in Bedminster township, for many years. The 
centre building was erected about 1759; the parlor and dining-room were 
added in 1784; and the kitchen and fmall rocm at the west end in 1790 
and 1801. Colonel George Piper was its landlord from 1778 to his death, 
in 1823, when he was succeeded by Jacob Keichline, who married his 
daughter, and was its landlord to his death, in 1861. During this long 
period it sheltered a number of the most distinguished men of the country, 
including Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Bonaparte. The old tavern was 
torn down some years ago. Its history would be an interesting one. 

■* Jacob Keichline, the grandson of John Peter Keichline, who im- 
migrated from Heidelberg, Germany, and settled in Bedminster about 
1742, and the son of Andrew, was born in that township, September 8, 
1776, and died February 26, 1861. He was the landlord of the inn thirty- 
six years, and was well-known to the leading men of the county. 

■" Mrs. Keichline was the daughter of Colonel George Piper born on 
the Wissahickon, Philadelphia county, November 11, 1755. About the 
time he arrived at manhood, he removed to Bedminster and married a 
daughter of Arnold Lear, of Tinicum. He was an officer in the Con- 
tinental Army and a Colonel of militia. How long after her marriage she 
became the popular hostess of the " Bucks county hotel," we do not know. 
The writer remembers her with pleasure, and frequently enjoyed her 
doughnuts and gingerbread. She was a wise counselor, and as true as 
steel to her friends. Dr. William Keichline, of Philadelphia, is her son. 

" Richelieu Armand du Plessis, Cardinalde, the greatest French 
statesman of the 17th centui-y, was born in 1585, and died in 1642. He 
had great desire for distinction as a man of letters, and wrote several 
works, among which the greatest interest attaches to his Menioires. 



JOHN DAVIS. 155 

The Buchanan-Forney quarrel, soon after the 
former became President, and still fresh in the minds 
of many, was understood by few. A minute detail 
of this unfortunate episode would be out of place 
here, but a brief reference thereto seems proper, inas- 
much as General Davis was the friend and confident 
of both parties, and cognizant of all the facts. It 
makes a part of the political history of the times. 

James Buchanan was the personal and political 
idol of John W. Forney from his boyhood. He 
labored in season and out of season to advance his 
fortunes ; and to see him elected to the Presidential 
chair was the darling object of his life. In whatever 
political work he undertook, he had that for his end 
and aim. When Franklin Pierce became President, 
Colonel Forney was placed in charge of the Wash- 
ington Union, the administration organ, and was full 
partner in the contract to do the public printing. 
His interest was estimated at $100,000. 

The candidacy of Mr. Buchanan, for nomination 
for President, in 1856, found Colonel Forney in the 
situation mentioned. He was not only editor of 
President Pierce's organ, but his favorite and trusted 
companion. It was well known the President was a 
candidate for renomination. Forney was placed in 
a dilemma. His sense of honor forbade a divided 
allegiance. What was he to do ? Whom should he 
serve? General Pierce's magnanimous conduct re- 
lieved him of his embarrassment. Knowing the 



loR JOHN DAVIS. 

long, and affectionate, intimacy between him and 
Mr. Buchanan, and appreciating the extreme deli- 
cacy of his position, he vokmtarily absolved Colonel 
Forney from all allegiance to himself, and gave his 
full consent for him to advocate the claims of Mr. 
Buchanan. This was what might have been ex- 
pected of a man of General Pierce's chivalrous char- 
acter, but few would have played so generous a part. 
Being now a free man, Colonel Forney went to work. 
His task was herculean, but he succeeded in it. He 
so popularized Mr. Buchanan with the country, he 
was nominated at the Cincinnati convention with 
little difificulty. We give the credit of this mainly 
to Colonel Forney, for he deserves it. It was his 
work ; and we are not alone in believing, had there 
been no Forney, James Buchanan would never have 
reached the Presidential chair. 

Shortly after his nomination, Mr. Buchanan in- 
vited Colonel Forney to come to Lancaster and con- 
duct his campaign, saying, if he were elected, he 
would take him back to Washington under better 
auspices than before. At the back of this was the 
promise, expressed or implied, and , which both 
parties understood, that Colonel Forney was to be 
the editor of the administration organ. He did not 
hesitate a moment when his friend called him to his 
side. He relinquished his interest in his newspaper 
and printing contract, without a dollar of compensa- 
tion, removed to Lancaster and stripped for the 



JOHN DAVIS. 157 

fight. We need not rehearse the campaign of 1856. 
In the hands of Colonel Forney it was made the 
most brilliant, and probably the ablest, campaign the 
country had ever seen. He was made chairman of 
the Democratic State Committee, with headquarters 
at Philadelphia. It resulted in the election of Mr. 
Buchanan, and Colonel Forney was the hero of the 
fight. 

It is the general impression that Colonel Forney 
quarreled with Mr. Buchanan, because he was not 
made a member of his Cabinet, or given some other 
important place. Nothing could be more erroneous. 
He never asked for, nor wanted, an ofifice, and re- 
fused those offered him, including that of American 
Consul at Liverpool. He had but one ambition — to 
be put back into the place he had relinquished to con- 
duct the campaign, and made the editor of the 
administration organ. The promise made him was 
not redeemed, and that was at the bottom of their 
estrangement, which lasted until the grave closed 
over them. Shortly after it was known that Mr. 
Buchanan was elected, he was besought by politi- 
cians, mainly from the South, not to allow Colonel 
Forney to occupy that position, and, unfortunately 
for himself, the party, his administration, and we 
may say, for the country, he yielded, and thus lost 
the support of the ablest, and most unselfish, friend 
he ever had. The effect of this mistake of Mr. 
Buchanan was far-reaching, and had a greater bear- 



158 JOHN DAVIS. 

ing on subsequent events than will be generally 
admitted. 

We have already said General Davis was the friend 
of both Mr. Buchanan and Colonel Forney, and tried 
hard to reconcile them, but it was impossible. We 
have often heard him relate the particulars of these 
events, as we have also Colonel Forney, and are 
satisfied the facts are as we state them. A few 
months before General Davis' death, he was visited 
by an old acquaintance,'" a retired journalist and 
friend of Colonel Forney, when the conversation led 
up to the Buchanan episode. In the report of the in- 
terview, as published in a county newspaper,'" it is 
stated, that after discussing men and events of the 
past, the General, all at once, as it were, quick as 
change could be made, adverted to Mr. Buchanan, 
with whom he was for many years on intimate terms, 
and his administration of national affairs ; and, as if 
it followed, as a natural sequence, rising from his 
couch, in an impressive manner continued : 

" Let me tell you, sir, that John W. Forney has 



'« John P. Rogers is the son of the late General William T. Rogers, of 
Doylestown. He learned the printing trade in the office of the Lancaster 
Intelligencer, when John W. Forney was the editor and proprietor, and 
was one of his most devoted friends. He was a journalist many years, and 
connected with several newspapers, including the Daylcstmvn Democrat 
and Bucks County hit elli gene er . 

!'■' The interview was printed in the Bucks County Intelligencer, the 
oldest newspaper in the county, having been established by Asher Miner in 
1804. 



JOHX T)A\'IS. 15^( 

never had justice done him. as regards his differ- 
ences with Mr. Buchanan. It was told that Forney 
was ambitious, disappointed, jealous. Let me tell 
you, sir, I, of all other men, knew all about it, and 
it was not true ; not one single word of it ; and it 
should be told now. Forney, sir, always had it in 
his power to prove the falsity of these charges, and 
he ought to have done it long ago ; but he preferred 
to keep still. Now, if you would like to hear the 
real reason that separated them, I will tell it all." 

"Indeed would I, General," was the response of 
his interviewer. 

"Well, sir," he continued, "you know that for 
some cause after his election a coolness sprang up 
between Forney and Buchanan. Now, as one of his 
old friends, the incoming President sent for me to 
come on to Wheatland and have an interview with 
him. While in Philadelphia, on my way there, as 
luck would have it, I met Colonel Forney, and he and 
I naturally fell into conversation in reference to the 
personnel and policy which would be pursued ; and 
from that drifted, as we were intimate, as to how he 
should be rewarded for his services. I remember 
perfectly well, because it greatly surprised me at the 
time, that Forney remarked that the only position 
he would have would be to return to the one he had 
relinquished in Washington. I thought it strange 
then ; I think it strange still ; but, sir, such was the 
fact, as I will soon satisfy you I have ample reason 
for remembering. I proceeded to Lancaster, where 
I soon found lots of Southern statesmen in consul- 
tation with Mr. Buchanan ; it was Kansas, you 
know, that was the bone of contention. Well, we 
had our interview, and just as I was about leaving. 



160 J()HN DAVIS. 

Forney was mentioned by one or the other, and 
Mr. Buchanan remarked that he owed so much to 
him that he would do anything- in his power as 
partial compensation in return for favors which he 
would never be able to cancel. On my return I 
met Forney, communicated to him the fact that 
Buchanan was astonished that he would be satisfied 
to hold his former editorial position, and that it was 
finally and satisfactorily agreed upon ; and that, too, 
in despite of my earnest protestation that he ought 
to have, and certainly would receive from the Presi- 
dent, almost any of^ce within his g"ift. Now, sir, 
more than all that ; I happen to know of my own 
personal knowledge that when these difificulties be- 
tween them were thus satisfactorily adjusted, Mr. 
Buchanan himself suggested that as Forney had been 
invited to deliver an address before the Democratic 
Association of Philadelphia, on the coming eighth 
of January, scarce two months prior to his inaugura- 
tion, and as it would naturally be expected that he 
would of right be able to anticipate and announce 
what his (Buchanan's) policy would be, that the 
proof sheets of that address should be sent to him 
for correction and revision. That these proofs 
were so forwarded, that they were cautiously perused 
by Buchanan, that they embraced and enunciated in 
all their breadth and depth the Douglass doctrine, 
and that Buchanan declared he so heartily and fully 
approved its sentiments that, to use his own lan- 
guage, 'it did not need at his hands the dotting even 
of an i or the crossing of a t,' I also know, for I had 
it direct from himself. Now, these things trans- 
pired in the early winter following Buchanan's elec- 
tion, and the events afterwards are matters of his- 



JOHN DAVIS. Ifil 

tory. This is only stated to entirely free Colonel 
Forney from the i^roundless charge that he was 
actuated in his subsequent opposition to the admin- 
istration by any feelings of personal disappointment. 
No ; that, or any accusation kindred to it is base and 
untrue." 

General Davis, at this time, was nearly ninety 
years of age, but in possession of all his faculties, 
with his wonderful memory as tenacious as ever. 
He could not do less than come to the defense of his 
old friend and Deputy Surveyor of the Port, 
for whom he retained great fondness, in spite of a 
severance of political relations. 



CHAPTER X. 

Whatever may be a man's public life, and how- 
ever well he may stand therein, we look for his 
chiefest glory to be won in his relations as citizen, 
friend, neighbor, husband, father and man of busi- 
ness. These bring out the fine gold in his character, 
and not infrequently require more courage and for- 
bearance than the most exalted station. In all 
these relations the life of General Davis was without 
reproach. 

Born to no inheritance, he early realized the 
necessity of labor, and that that, and integrity of 
character, must be the foundation of whatever suc- 
cess he might achieve. He therefore took hold of 
his work as if his heart were in it, and he meant to 
succeed. He began life a farmer, and closed it en- 
gaged in this honorable and most independent of all 
pursuits. As we have stated, shortly after his mar- 
riage he moved to the farm in Southampton, belong- 
ing to Mrs. Hart, his mother-in-law, and which he 
purchased at her death, in 1815. On it was a saw- 
mill, the only one within several miles ; and as tim- 
ber was abundant then it was constantly employed, 
and yielded a handsome revenue. We have often 
heard him say it was the best piece of property he 
ever owned. For several winters it was his custom 



JOHN DAVIS. ]fi3 

to go to the mill two or three hours before daylight 
and set it running, thus getting on with his work 
while his neighbors were asleep. Sometimes he 
hitched up his team, before it was light, and started 
to the woods for a load of logs, getting back by 
breakfast time. He was so much impressed with the 
value of it, he frequently remarked to his children, 
in after years, that whenever he should set up a coat- 
of-arms, it would be an exact copy of the old saw- 
mill. Many great families trace their arms and crest 
back to a less worthy source. The mill cut hard 
wood exclusively, for which he found a ready market 
in Philadelphia, seventeen miles distant. He pur- 
chased standing timber at all the sales, to keep the 
mill going, not relying upon custom work. He 
frequently bought both land and timber, and after 
the land was cleared sold it, and made a handsome 
profit by the transaction. He prospered while 
others, who began life with brighter prospects, made 
no headway. This was largely due to close atten- 
tion to business. The dull times, following the War 
of 1812-15, ruined many in independent circum- 
stances when it broke out. In all his public employ- 
ments General Davis had the good sense to retain 
his hold on his private business, realizing it to be 
the only real source of living. Many men make the 
mistake of giving up business as soon as they obtain 
public office, and, in consequence, find themselves 
without occupation, or the means of living, when 



1H4 JOHN DAVIS. 

their term expires. It is a difficult thing to start a 
second time in hfe, especially after enjoying the 
emoluments of office, and its supposed dignity, a 
few years. Many of the brightest men in the coun- 
try have thus sacrificed themselves. 

His first change in business relations was in 1826, 
when he built a store-house on the Street road, 
where Davisville stands, and opened store there the 
following spring. It was only a few hundred yards 
from his residence, across the meadow. He had 
previously built a dwelling, and wheelwright and 
blacksmith shops, at the cross roads, and laid the 
foundation of the village. In 1829 he put an addi- 
tion to the dwelling adjoining the store, and in the 
spring of 1 830 removed thither, with his family. He 
lived there almost halt a century. After keeping 
store about twenty years, he turned it over to his 
son-in-law, Alfred T. Duffield.' A store is still kept 

1 Alfred T. Duffield was the son of Jacob Duffield, a soldier of the War 
of 1812-15, who died at Sackett's Harbor. The family were Norman 
French ; came to England with William the Conqueror, and can trace their 
descent from the time of Edward 11., when Richard Duffield was Bailiff of 
York. The Pennsylvania Duffields are descended from Benjamin, the 
son of Robert and Bridget, who was born in 1661, and landed at Burling- 
ton, N, J., in 1679. He was one of the delegation that came across the 
Delaware to welcome the arrival of William Penn, in 1682. He settled in 
Lower Dublin, Philadelphia county, married a daughter of Arthur W'atts, 
and was the father of thirteen children. He was buried at Christ church. 
Alfred T. was the fifth in descent from Benjamin. Edward Duffield. the 
grandson of Benjamin, and distinguished for his scientific attainments, 
was the associate and friend of Rittenhouse, and one of the executors of 
Franklin. It is said the first consultation, held by Jefferson and com- 



JOHN DAVIS. IGo 

in the same building. Wliile in trade he stimulated 
the business affairs of the neighborhood by his 
energy and activity, and proved that his coming was 
a fortunate circumstance for the community. 

The farm and old saw-mill, meanwhile, were not 
neglected. Fertilizers and careful tillage for the land, 
and a supply of logs for the mill, increased the in- 
come therefrom year by year. A post ofifice had 
been established at the dwelling of Joseph Warner."'' 
on the Street road, a few hundred yards above the 
Southampton township line, in 1823 ; iVIr. W. was 
appointed postmaster, and the ofifice called Warmin- 
ster. In 1827 the post of^ce was removed to the 
store of Colonel Davis, down at the cross roads, 
where the new village had been born ; he was ap- 
pointed postmaster, and the post ofifice called Davis- 
ville, the name it still beais. Thus the new town 
was started out on its career under favorable auspices. 
The founder led the way in improvements, erecting 



patriots on the subject of Independence, was at the house of Edward Duf- 
field, northwest corner of Eighth and Market streets, Philadelphia. The 
name is variously spelled : Du Fielde, De Duffeld, Duffeld or Duffield. 
It is the oldest on the records of Ripon Cathedral, where it is spelled Duf- 
field, Duffeilde, Duffyield. William Duffield was Arch-deacon of 
Cleveland in 1435, and died in 1452. 

^ Joseph Warner, born in 1701, and the grandson of the first William, 
who died at Blockley, in 1706, settled in Wrightstown in 1726. He mar- 
ried Agnes Croasdale, of Middletown, in 1723, and it is thought their de- 
scendants number nearly two thousand souls. The old homestead is still 
standing in Wrightstown. Joseph Warner, of Warminster, was a de- 
scendant of the Joseph who settled in Wrightstown. He died about 1840. 



166 .10 HX DAVIS. 

dwellings and other buildings, etc. At one time he 
owned four of the five corners formed by the cross- 
ing roads, and sold lots at moderate prices, to en- 
courage building, and he otherwise assisted persons 
of small means to secure homes for their families. 

General Davis gradually acquired real estate in 
and around the village. In 1834 he bought, at pub- 
lic sale, the John White' farm, of thirty-eight acres, 
lying in the angle formed by the Warminster town- 
ship line, and the road leading to Southainpton 
meeting house. Mr. White, a reputable farmer and 
man of family, died uiider painful circumstances. 
He went to Philadelphia, to market, accompanied 
by his wife, and stopped at the Bull's Head Inn,* 
North Second Street. On waking in the morning, 
the wife found her husband dead by her side. 
General Davis, who chanced to be in the city, was 
sent for ; and the author, a small boy, had the un- 
pleasant duty of driving the sorrowing widow home. 
In 1837 he bought the John Engert farm, of forty- 
five acres, lying on the opposite side of the South- 
ampton meeting house road, and between that and 
the Street road." As he already owned seventeen acres 



^ We know nothing of John White except that he was a respectable 
farmer, and lived on his farm at Davisville from our earliest recollection to 
his death. Two or three of his children married and left descendants. 

■> Quite a famous public house, on North Second Street, Philadelphia, 
where farmers put up when they go to market, and is still occupied as 
such. 

= The Street road, which runs from the Delaware manv mile? into the 



JOHN DAVIS. 167 

adjoining it. the tract made a farm of sixty-two 
acres. In 1850, he made his most valuable purchase, 
the Watts farm, containing one hundred and thirty- 
six acres, from the estate of Richard Benson," of 
Philadelphia. It is one of the finest farms in that 
section, lying on the southwest side of the Street 
road, and adjoining his other real estate. This plan- 
tation came into possession of the Watts family 
from the Penns, through the Callowhills,' in 1734, 
an hundred and fifty-two years ago. He purchased 
other real estate, in single fields, or small tracts, to 
round up a boundary, until he was the owner of 
about three hundred acres of the best land in the 
neighborhood. The management of this quantity of 
real estate, and other business occupation, with his 
social engagements, and politics thrown in as amuse- 
ment, made him a very busy man, and occupied his 
whole attention. 

The wife of General Davis being a member of 

interior of the county, was one of the northwest highways projected by 
William Penn. The first section, from Dunk's ferry landing to the Bristol 
turnpike, was laid out in 1696, and the road was completed about 1737. It 
was intended to be four poles wide, but was opened only two poler, 

" Richard Benson was a broker of Philadelphia, who made a large for- 
tune and left sons and daughters to inherit it. Richard Dale Benson is a 
grandson. 

' Thomas Callowhill was the father-in-law of William Penn. Four 
hundred and seventeen acres, covering the site of Davisville, were sur- 
veyed to him April 20, 1705. John, Thomas, and Richard Penn inherited 
it from their grandfather, and 149 acres were patented to Stephen Watts, 
January 20, 1734. 



168 JOHN DAVIS. 

Southampton Baptist church at her marriage, he 
connected himself with that organization. The 
pastor was tlie Rev. Thomas B. Montanye, one of 
the ablest ministers of that denomination, and a 
warm friendship was maintained between them until 
the death of the latter, in 1829. They worked in 
harmony in all movements calculated to advance the 
best interests of the neighborhood. He was a mem- 
ber of this congregation for almost forty years, and, 
although not a communicant, was active in promo- 
ting the welfare of the church. He served on the 
board of trustees several years, and his excellent 
business habits gave him the lead in that body. He 
assisted to establish a Sunday school at Southamp- 
ton, and was its Superintendent. He was also one 
of the founders of the Bucks County Bible Society, 
in 1 8 16, and its Vice President. 

While he and his family maintained their connec- 
tion with the Southampton church, they literally 
" kept open house." It was a general headquarters. 
Visiting clergymen and friends came to, and went 
from, his hospitable mansion at pleasure ; and all 
comers were welcome to a seat at his table, and to 
shelter under his roof. When the Philadelphia 
Baptist Association* met at Southampton, it was a 

•* The Philadelphia Baptist Association, the oldest organization of the 
kind in America, was established in 1707. It began with five churches, 
which increased in number and influence, and extended from New York to 
the Carolinas. Some of its ministers were the most noted divines in 
America. In 1813 it contained twenty-five churches with 2,500 members. 



JOHN DAVIS. 16V) 

genuine field-day at the Davis homestead, and hos- 
pitality was dispensed with a liberal hand. Some of 
these occasions brought together a notable company. 
Among those who gathered there were the Rev. 
Thomas B. Montanye, the pastor; Dr. Janeway/ 
Rev. Horatio Gates Jones,'", Rev. Joseph Mat- 
thias," and others, with their wives, or other 
members of their families. It was a season 
of genuine enjoyment. The death of Mr. 



" Dr. Janeway was a Baptist clergyman of New Jersey ; who occasiona'.ly 
came over to Southampton to meet the Association, and on other occa- 
sions, but I am unable to trace him. He seems to have passed from view. 
A Dr. Janeway is mentioned in " Benedict's History of the Baptists," wlio 
may possibly be the same. 

'" Horatio Gates Jones, the youngest son and child of Rev. David 
Jones, the celebrated Chaplain of the Revolution, was born in Chester 
county, Pa., in 1777. He passed his early youth there and at Southamp- 
ton, Bucks county, where his father was pastor for a time. He was edu- 
cated at the Bordentown Academy ; made a profession of religion in 1798 ; 
licensed to preach in 1801, and ordained in 1802. After preaching else- 
where meanwhile, he organized the Roxborough Baptist church, in 1808, 
and was its pastor for forty-five years. Brown University conferred the 
degree of A. M. on him, in 1812, and Lewisburg their first degree of D. D., 
in 1852. He held many important positions in the church and out of it, 
was an able preacher and good pastor, and died December 12, 1853. 

11 Joseph Matthias was the grandson of John Matthias, born in Pem- 
brokeshire, South Wales, at the close of the seventeenth century, and came 
to Pennsylvania with the W^elsh immigrants. He settled in Montgomery 
county, a few miles northwest of Line Lexington, and died in 1747 or '48. 
Joseph was born May 8, 1778, baptized September 20, 1799, ordained July 
22, 1806, and died March 11, 1851. During his pastoral life of almost half 
a century, he officiated at upwards of seven hundred funerals, and preached 
six thousand eight hundred and seventy-five sermons. He was pastor of 
Hilltown Baptist church forty-five years, and, as a man and minister of 
the gospel, was respected and beloved. 



170 JOHN DAVIS'. 

Montayne made a breach in these pleasant g-ather- 
ings that was never filled, and was an irreparable loss 
to tlie church and neighborhood. During all this 
period, and in fact down to the day of his death, 
General Davis' dwelling was a social centre, where 
a lar^e circle of friends and relatives o-athered, and 
whither many resorted to discuss p.'^litical affairs, 
and consult about party nominations. One of his 
latest visitors was Hon. Samut;l J. Randall,'" then 
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 
United States, whose father he had met in debate in 
the Presidential campaign of 1844. Having a 
family of daughters growing up to womanhood, in 
the same period, brought much young compan}' to 
the house, and at times the number of visitors and 
vehicles gave the appearance of a public reception. 
Among the young men on terms of social intimacy 
with the family, and who afterwards reached dis- 
tinction, may be mentioned William L. Lee,"^ who 

" Samuel J. Randall is the son of Josiah Randall, and was born in 
Philadelphia. He was partially educated at the Attleborough Academy, 
Bucks county, was in business for a time in Philadelphia, and then entered 
politics. He served one term in the State Senate, and was then elected to 
Congress, where he is a very conspicuous figure. He has twice filled the 
Speaker's chair, and is the best parliamentarian in the House. He is 
noted for his public integrity. 

13 William L. Lee was born at Sandy Hill, New York ; educated at 
Norwich University, Vermont, and finished his law studies at Cambridge 
University. He sailed for Oregon, in 1846, the vessel reaching Honolulu, 
Sandwich Islands, at the end of si.\ months, water logged. The King ap- 
pointed him a Judge on one of islands, and he subsequently rose to be 



JOHN DAVIS. 171 

became Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Hawaii, 
Gershom Mott,'^ a Major-General in the War of the 
RebelHon, Earl EngHsh," a Rear-Admiral in the 
United States Navy, John H. Michener,'" a promi- 
nent and wealthy merchant of Philadelphia, Edward 
J. Fox," the foremost member of the bar of North- 
ampton county, Pa., Dr. Samuel Lilly," and others 

Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Kingdom. He was sent to Washing- 
ton as Minister Extraordinary, in 1S55, to negotiate a treaty. He died at 
Honolulu, universally lamented. He was a man of great ability and 
purity of character. 

'•• Gershom Mott was a native of Mercer county. New Jersey, where he 
was born in 1822. At the breaking out of the Civil War, he was cashier of 
the Bordentown Banking Company, but resigned and entered the military 
service as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifth New Jersey Regiment. He was 
promoted a Brigadier-General for gallantry at the second battle of Bull 
Run, and afterward commissioned Major-General. He was four times 
wounded. He died suddenly, November 29, 1884, at New York, while 
Superintendent of the New Jersey State prison. General Mott served in 
the Me.xican War as Lieutenant in the Tenth Regiment United States 
Infantry. 

'•■• Earl English was born in New Jersey ; entered the naval service in 
1840 ; promoted to Passed-Midshipman, in 1846 ; Lieutenant, in 1855 ; 
Commander, in 1866; Captain, in 1871 ; Commodore, in 1880, and Rear- 
.Admiral, in 1884. He served on the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf during 
the Civil War, with great credit. 

'" John H. Michener was born in Moreland, Montgomery county, and 
early went into business in the city, where he met with great success. 

" Edward J. Fox is the son of Judge John Fox, of Doylestown ; educated 
at Princeton College ; read law with his father, and was admitted to the bar, 
in 1845. He settled at Easton, Pa,, and has achieved success in his pro- 
fession. 

'" Dr. Samuel Lilly practiced medicine at Lambertville, N. J., several 
years ; represented that district in Congress, and was afterward a lay mem- 
ber of the Court of Appeals. He married a daughter of Lewis S. Coryell. 
He and his wife are both dead. 



172 JOHN DAVIS. 

who have made their mark on society. 

General Davis and family severed their connection 
with the Southampton church, about 1850, and con- 
nected themselves with the Baptist church," at Hat- 
boro, just over the county line in Montijomery, and 
where he was baptized in 1862 or '63, by the Rev. 
William S. Wood.'" His interest in church matters 
was now visibly increased. Although the distance 
to drive was three miles, the weather was seldom bad 
enough, in summer or winter, day or night, to keep 
him from religious services. This connection lasted 
several years, and until increasing age warned him 
to seek church cominunion nearer home; when he 
and his family took letters to the Davisville Baptist 



'■' The Hatboro Baptist chuich, founded in 1835, had its origin in the 
religious seed sown by a Baptist camp meeting held in the neighborhood. 
It has grown to be a strong organization, and exerts a powerful influence 
for good. The pulpit has been filled by several able men. The congrega- 
tion celebrated the semi-centennial in 1S85. Rev. Louis Smith, a pastor of 
this church, went to New Mexico as Missionary, in 1852, and was one of 
the earliest Protestant ministers in that part of the continent. After a 
residence of several years at Santa Fe, he returned and died in Ohio. 

2" William S. Wood, son of William and Eleanor Wood, was born near 
New Geneva, Fayette county, Pa., November 10, 1834. He received his 
preliminary education at Green Academy, Greene county, Pa., and gradu- 
ated at Jefferson College, in 1857. He studied at Lewisburg University ; 
was licensed to preach in 1859 ; called to the Hatboro Baptist 
church, in 1863, and left in 1867. He next organized a congregation at 
Doylestown, Pa.; built a large house of worship, and was the pastor until 
April, 1870. Mr. Wood now lives at Mount Pleasant, Pa., andisengaged in 
organizing churches, and other evangelical work. He is an able man and 
strong preacher. 



JOHN DAVIS. 173 

church,^' during the pastorate of Rev. William H. 
Conard.'''' It was but a half mile from his dwelling, 
and his seat in the family pew was seldom vacant. 
Here he exhibited his accustomed activity in spiritual 
and secular matters. He was liberal in his dona- 
tions ; and in his private charities a proper subject 
never went away empty-handed. He carried the 
same sincerity into the church he practiced in busi- 
ness affairs. He did not believe religion consisted 
merely in profession ; he thought doing good to 
others an important part of it. At eighty-two, 
General Davis represented his church at a Baptist 
conference at Boston," Mass., and greatly enjoyed 
his visit. 



'^ The Davisville Baptist church, an offshoot of the Southampton church, 
was organized March 31, 1849, with thirty-one constituent members. A 
place of worship was built the same year ; subsequently enlarged and im- 
proved and a parsonage erected. It has over two hundred members, with 
a large Sunday school. It is one of the most flourishing of the denomina- 
tion in the county. 

'^'^ William H. Conard was born at Montgomery Square, Pa., October 8, 
1832; was baptized January i, 1855; graduated at Lewitburg University, 
in 1862 ; was ordained to preach the same year, and settled as pastor at 
Davisville Baptist church, where he remained fourteen years. He next be- 
came pastor of the church at Bristol, Pa., in 1876, and in 1880 was appointed 
Secretary of the Pennsylvania Baptist General Association, where he is 
still engaged. He is a member of the Board of Curators of the Lewisburg 
University. The mother of Mr. Conard spent her early years, and until 
married, in the family of Colonel Thomas Humphrey, of whom we have 
already written. 

''^ Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, and the chief city of New Eng- 
land, was founded in 1630. It is the wealthiest city in the country accord- 
ing to the population, which is less than half a million. It is rich in edu- 
cational institutions, and the inhabitants boast of their culture. 



174 JOHN DAVIS. 

As the daughters of General Davis grew to woman- 
hood, they married and left the parental home. Ann, 
the eldest, was the first to marry, December lo, 1835, 
to James Erwin, of Newtown, the son of Oliver 
Erwin, who took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, 
and was obliged to flee his country. They settled 
in Newtown, and afterward removed to Morrisville, 
where he died in 18^4. The only surviving child, a 
daughter, married Henry Mercur," of Towanda, Pa., 
in 1866, and was left a widow with three children. 
His second daughter, Rebecca, was married January 
5, 1840, to Alfred T. Duffield, of Davisville, where 
he settled, as storekeeper and farmer, and passed the 
remainder of his life, dying in September, 1871. 
His wife died January 2, 1884. The eldest son, 
J. Davis Duffield, is a member of the Philadelphia 
bar, the younger, T. H. Benton Duffield, a farmer of 
Southampton, and the daughter. Amy, married 
Gustav A. Endlich,"' of the Reading bar, a graduate 
of the Gymnasium at Stuttgart," and the Col- 

''■* Son of the late Henry Mercur, a merchant of Towanda, and a nephew 
of the Chief Justice. 

-= Gustav A. Endlich, the son of John Endlich, United States Consul 
at Bale, Switzerland, under President Buchanan, was born in Berks 
county, Pa., January 29, 1856. He studied at Stuttgart, Tuebingen, 
and Darmstadt, Germany, from 1879 to 1872; graduated at Princeton, 
187s ; was admitted to the Reading bar, 1877 ; wrote, in 1882, " The Law 
of Building Associations in the United States;" in 1884, ''The Law of 
Affidavits of Defense in Pennsylvania," and edited, in 1885, two volumes, 
"Woodward's Decisions." 

'^•' Stuttgart, the capital of Wurteniberg, Germany, is on a branch of the 



JOHN DAVIS. 175 

lege of New Jersey," Princeton, December 12, 1883. 
The most serious breach in the domestic circle at 
Davisville was caused by the death of Mrs. Davis, 
August 17, 1847. It was sudden, and the illness 
brief. She enjoyed her usual good health down to 
her last sickness. It M'as a great shock to the family, 
coming wholly unexpected. She was buried at 
Southampton, followed to the grave by an unusually 
large concourse of relatives and friends. The funeral 
discourse was preached by Rev. Joseph Matthias, of 
Hilltown Baptist church.^** Mrs. Davis was one of 
the best of women ; and as wife, mother, neighbor 
and friend, was never excelled. She was a fine 
singer, and the writer can almost hear her sweet voice, 
after the lapse of more than half a century, singing 

Neckar. The population was 56,103, in 1861. It is surrounded by gardens 
and vineyards, and contains many public building;s, including a public 
library of 200,000 volumes. Printing and bookbinding form the chief in- 
dustry. Its foundation is of ancient date, and owes its name to a castle 
which existed prior to 1080. It is a beautiful city. 

2' The College of New Jersey, at Princeton, 40 miles northeast of Phila- 
delphia, was founded in 1746, and was presided over by Rev. Aaron Burr and 
Rev. Jonathan Edwards. It is one of the foremost educational institutions 
in the country. A sharp conflict took place there January 3, 1777, between 
the Americans, under Washington, and British troops, under Colonel 
Mawhood, 

'■^» The Hilltown Baptist church, Bucks county. Pa., an offshoot of the 
Montgomery Baptist church, was constituted in 1781, with fifty-four mem- 
bers ; services having been held there for several years previously, the 
members going down to Montgomery to take communion. The first pas- 
tor was Rev. John Thomas, born at Radnor, in 171 1, and called to the 
ministry, in 1751. The pastorate of Rev. Joseph Matthias extended from 
1806 to 185T, forty-five years. 



176 JOHN DAVIS. 

the favorite hymns she sang to him when a child. 
When she died the poor of the neighborhood lost 
their best friend. The next members of the family 
to marry were the daughters Sarah and Amy, both 
on the same day, June 12, 1850, in the parlor at Davis- 
ville, the former to Ulysses Mercur, of Towanda,^* 
Pa., a lawyer by profession, and the latter to Holmes 
Sells,'" a practicing physician of Dublin, Ohio. The 
former is now Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, with a 
a family of four sons and one daughter, and three of 
them married. Two of the sons, Rodney and James, 
are lawyers, and one, John, is a physician settled in 
Philadelphia. The daughter, Mary, married B. F. 
Eshleman,^' of the Lancaster^^ bar. The youngest 
son is a student at Cambridge University. "" Dr. Sells 

'•"* Towanda, the county seat of Bradford county, Pa., on the rig^ht bank 
of the Susquehanna river, was laid out in 1812, and incorporated in 1828. 
Its growth was slow for several years, but it is now a flourishing town of 
about 8,000 inhabitants, with three lines of railroads centering there. 

3" The family settled in Ohio in the early days of the State. Dr. Sells 
finished his medical studies at one of the Philadelphia schools, and com- 
menced practice at Dublin, on the Sciota, ten miles above Columbus. He 
went South in 1859. 

31 The Eshlemans are an old German family of wealth and standing, 
long settled in Lancaster county. B. F. was admitted to the bar several 
years ago ; is now in good practice, and an active man in Republican politics. 

32 Lancaster, the county seat of the county of the same name, one of the 
richest in Pa., was laid out in 1730, and incorporated in 1742. It was set- 
tled by Germans, whose descendants largely predominate. The Penn- 
sylvania Railroad runs through the city. 

33 Harvard College, or Cambridge University, as it is frequently called, 
was founded by the General Court of Massachusetts, in 1636, endowed by 
John Harvard, in 1638, and the first class graduated in 1642. Henry 



JOHN DAVIS. 177 

and wife have been residents of Atlanta, Georgia, 
since i860. Tliey liv^ed there during its siege, by 
Sherman's army, 1864, and had some v^ery rough ex- 
perience. Their only son, John D. Sells, is settled 
in the practice of the law at Pottsville, Pa. 

The only son of the family, W. W. H. Davis, was 
married, June 24, 1856, to Anna Carpenter,'"' of 
Brooklyn,'"* New York. They had seven children, of 
whom three, one son and two daughters, are living. 
The eldest daughter, Margaret Sprague, was mar- 
ried February 18, 1886, to Samuel A. W. Patterson,'" 
son of Rear-Admiral Thomas H. Patterson," U. S. N., 



Dunster was the first President. It is now a strong:; institution of learning 
and richly endowed. About 1,500 students study annually in its various 
schools. 

^* A daughter of Jacob Carpenter, of Brooklyn, whose family came 
from Germany, about the close of the Napoleonic Wars. Her mother was 
the daughter of English parents, and descended from the family of Ad- 
miral Blake, through a sister, and was a relative of King, the great 
English composer. 

3^ Brooklyn, the county seat of Kings county, New York, is situated on 
Staten Island, and separated from New York by the East River. It is 
called the City of Churches, and contains many beautiful edifices and 
streets. The population was 350,000 in 1865, and is now considerably over 
half a million. 

'"' Mr. Patterson entered the Naval Academy in 1876, and graduated 
in 1882. After making several cruises while in the academy, upon gradu- 
ation he was attached to the Flag Ship Hartford, of the Pacific station, 
where he served two years, making a notable cruise of 50,000 miles. He 
was highly recommended for his seamanship. 

3" Thomas H. Patterson, Rear-Admiral, U. S. N., retired, son of Com- 
modore Daniel T. Patter.son, a Midshipman on the Philadelphia frigate 
when captured before Tripola, in 1801, and Commander of Jackson's gun- 
boats on the Mississippi, when he mace the night attack on the British, De- 



178 JOHN DAVIS. 

and a graduate of the Naval Academy.'" Mrs. Davis 
died April 3, 1881. Mr. Davis is a graduate of the 
Norwich Military University .^^ studied law ; was ad- 
mitted to til e bar, and completed his legal studies at 
Dane Law School, Harvard College, and practiced 
five years. He has filled several public stations; 
was an officer in the Mexican, and War of the Re- 
bellion, in the latter breveted Brigadier-General for 
meritorious services at the siege of Charleston ; was 
four years in the civil service of the government in 
New Mexico,'"' as United States District Attorney, 
Secretary of Territory, Superintendent of Indian 
Affairs, and Acting Governor; was Honorary Com- 
missioner of the United States to the Paris Exposi- 
tion, 1878; was Democratic candidate for Congress 
in the Seventh District, in 1882, and for the State-at- 
large, in 1884. The nominations were tendered 
him, and, in both instances, he ran ahead of his 



cember 23, 1814, was born at New Orleans in 1820. He entered the Navy, 
in 1836 ; was promoted to Passed-Midshipman, in 1842; Master, in 1848; 
Lieutenant, in 1849 ; Commander, in 1862 ; Captain, in 1866 ; Commodore, 
in 1871, and Rear-Admiral, in 1878. His last active command was the 
Asiatic Squadron, and was placed on the retired list in 1883. 

3" A Naval School was established at Newport, R. I. After some years 
it was removed to Annapolis, Md., in the administration of President Polk, 
about 1846, and the Academy organized. Here young men are educated 
for the Naval service ; the course of studies is extensive and exact, and the 
discipline severe. 

3" The school was established by Captain Alden Partridge, about 1824, 
and afterward chartered by the State. 

*"' Acquired from Mexico under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 



JOHN DAVIS. 179 

ticket. He is now United States Pension Agent at 
Philadelphia, which office he was not an applicant 
for. The fifth daughter, Elizabeth, never married, 
and has been the recognized female head of the 
family since the death of her mother. She possesses 
the noblest traits of character, and has fine capacity 
for business. 

He was an excellent business man, straight and 
frank in all his dealings, and the man never lived 
who had greater regard for his word. We never 
knew a person who had such hatred for a liar, or a 
distorter of the truth. Whoever deceived him never 
recovered his confidence. One of the earliest lessons 
he taught his children, was absolute fealty to a 
promise. He was especially sensitive in money 
matters, and, if he promised to pay a debt at a cer- 
tain time, no human influence could prevent him 
keeping his word. He expected others to be gov- 
erned by the same standard, but he often realized 
he had placed it too high to be reached by all. He 
was very considerate of others, and could not be in- 
duced to wound the feelings of the humblest in- 
dividual. No man possessed more of the instincts 
of a true gentleman, and he carried them with him 
alway. Toward women he was as gentle and polite 
as a knight of old. His public and private integrity 
were delightful to contemplate ; and nothing could 
influence him to depart from the right. In this he 
was unyielding. Nature had endowed him with 



180 JOHN DAVrS. 

honest instincts, and he apphed them in his private 
and pubHc Hfe. He was free from guile and deceit, 
and was, in the highest sense, a man of honor. His 
intellectual abilities were of the highest order; his 
mind was analytical, and his memory tenacious. 
Possessing such mental endowments, added to ex- 
cellent physical health, he might have reached the 
highest public stations had he been blessed with a 
scholastic education in his youth. He was a warm 
advocate of temperance, and a total abstainer the 
last thirty years of his life, but was never a member 
of any organization. He was the first man in his 
neighborhood to withhold liquor from workmen, and 
increase their wages in consequence. Others followed 
his example and the evil practice was gradually 
abandoned. 

General Davis was the promoter of all movements 
calculated to advance young and old, in intellectual 
pursuits. He was an early friend of debating 
schools, and encouraged the discussion of public 
questions at all suitable times and places. He be- 
lieved this to be one of the best methods of dissemi- 
nating knowledge among the people. Forty or fifty 
years ago, nearly every neighborhood had its debat- 
ing society, generally in the school house, where 
many a statesman received his first forensic training. 
These debates he attended and participated in, 
whenever the question to be discussed interested 
him. He was a pleasant, fluent, and forcible speaker. 



JOHN DAVIS. 181 

and his earnest way of presenting his views impressed 
all listeners, and frequently carried conviction. His 
friendship was ivorth having, for he stuck to his 
friends "closer than a brother." No allurements, 
threats or promises could induce him to desert them. 
Both friends and enemies knew just where to find 
him at all times, and under all circumstances. A 
friend, who knew him well, writes: 

"The hold, John Davis obtained, and kept, upon 
men, was mainly owing to his strong, bold, earnest 
and truthful character. He saw the truth clearly, 
and enforced it in a stalwart manner. He was a 
man of principle. If he antagonized a measure, or 
opposed a candidate, it was with such evident 
honesty and convictions of duty, he obtained, by 
degrees, a mastery over those who differed with him, 
on political measures. When in his prime he was a 
power in politics or out of it, and his stubborn facts 
were hard to gainsay or overthrow." 



CHAPTER XI. 

No man was more deeply imbued with patriotic 
impulses than General Davis. He was a believer in 
the sentiment, "Our country, may she always be 
right ; but our country, right or wrong," and was 
ready to act upon it whenever the occasion required. 
He considered the 4th of July a political sabbath, 
and was in favor of celebrating it with proper cere- 
monies, including the beating of drums and the 
burning of gunpowder. He was never absent from 
these celebrations in his own neighborhood, and 
often drove several miles to attend one. He gen- 
erally drank a patriotic toast, as was the custom at 
that day. In 1827 he was selected to read the Dec- 
laration of Independance, at a 4th of July celebra- 
tion at New Hope, and a few years afterward was 
the orator of the day at the same place, on a similar 
occasion. 

He was full of incidents of the Revolution, re- 
ceived from the lips of his father, and delighted to 
rehearse them to his children and others. Among 
these incidents we remember the following : While 
the American army occupied the western bank of 
the Delaware, and the British the eastern, in De- 
cember, 1776, the soldiers of the two armies were in 



JOHN DAVI8. 18:? 

the habit of going to the river for water. One dn}- 
a Hessian came down with a bucket, and having a 
contempt for his enemy on this side, made a 
very insulting demonstration to the Americans. 
The latter could not stand this, and a soldier, named 
" Cobe " Scout,' drew a bead on the Hessian with a 
rifle of his own make, and killed him across the 
river. This took place about where Trenton stands, 
and the father of General Davis witnessed it. In 
i860 a movement was put on foot to erect a monu- 
ment to the memory of the American soldiers who 
fell at the Crooked Billet, now Hatboro, when sur- 
prised by the British, the first of May, 1778. He 
was one of the most active in the enterprise, and his 
name headed the subscription list. 

When the Civil War broke out all his patriotism 
and love of country were aroused. He predicted the 
evil consequences that would follow the defeat of 
Mr. Douglass, in i860, and used his best endeavors 
to prevent it. He considered the firing on the flag 
at Sumter'' the crowning iniquity of the doctrine of 

' Scout was a unique character, and quite noted in his day. He was a 
friend of John Fitch, who taught him silversmithing, to which he added 
gunmakinj;:. He made his home at Charles Garrison's, in \Varmin;;ter. 
His silver spoons were held in high estimation by the housewives of three- 
quarters of a century ago, and his long rifles were equally celebrated. He 
died in 1829, at the age of ninety. Fitch engraved his map of the " North- 
western part of the United States," in Cobe Scout's shop, and Scout wit- 
nessed the first trial of Fitch's steamboat, on Arthur Watts' dam, in 
Southampton. 

'■' A strong fortress in Charleston harbor, at vviiich the first gun was fired 
April 13, 1861, that brought on the War of the Rebellion. 



184 JOHN DAVIS. 

secession. He did not hesitate a moment as to his 
course, and was among the first to raise his voice in 
favor of maintaining the integrity of the Union, and 
putting down rebelHon by the strong arm. He 
looked forward to a long and bloody conflict, for he 
knew the quality of men we had to deal with. He 
took the ground there should be but one party while 
the war lasted, the party of the country, and that 
factional fights should cease while there was an 
armed enemy in the field. 

When the President called for troops, in April. 
1 86 1, no man in the county or State, gave greater 
encouragement to the cause. He attended Union 
meetings, presiding and making speeches thereat ; 
encouraged the young men to enter the military 
service ; and was liberal in his contributions to fit 
out those who went to the field, and to maintain 
their families at home. He advocated the most 
energetic measures against those in arms against the 
constituted authorities. Had his age permitted, he 
would have been an active participant in the war. 
While the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment^ was 
being organized, he was a frequent visitor at their 
camp, at Doylestown. He paid a visit to the camp 



2 The One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
was recruited by W, W. H. Davis, and organized at Doylestown, Sep- 
tember, iS6i, to serve for three years, or during the war. The authority 
was received direct from the War Department. 



JOHN DAVIS. 185 

of the Third Pennsylvania Reserves,* at Easton/ in 
which he had personal friends among the officers." 

♦ The "Pennsylvania Reserve Corps" was a body of troops organized 
by Governor Andrew G. Curtin, by authority of the Legislature, at the 
breaking- out of the Rebellion. It consisted of fifteen regiments, which ren- 
dered distinguished services during the war. 

5 Easton is the seat of justice of Northampton county. Pa., on the Dela- 
ware, at the mouth of the Lehigh. In olden times it was known as " Forks 
of Delaware." The site was selected, and the town laid out, in 1752. 
It was a noted place for holding Indian treaties, and is rich in historical 
associations. It was incorporated in 1789, and has a population of about 
16,000 ; with many industries, and railroad connections. 

" The following letter, from Dr. Joseph Thomas, Captain in the Third 
Reserves, a prominent citizen of Bucks county, and recently her representa- 
tive in the State Senate, gives the views of General Davis on the subject of 
defending the L'nion : 

QUAKERTOWN, Pa., August 7, 1886. 

My Dear General : — Your note of the 6th instant is received. It recalls to 
my recollection the promise I made you, last spring, in a conversation about 
your father, whose biography you informed me you were preparing, to 
furnish you a brief reminiscence of an interview with him eai-ly in the war. 
It occurred at Easton, Pa., where several companies of the " Pennsylvania 
Resene Corps " were then encamped for instruction ; and among them 
were the three companies from this county, Beatty's, from Bristol ; 
Feaster's, from Newtown, and mine from Applebachville. Your father 
had made a visit to the camp, to see the Bucks county boys, who had 
volunteered to defend the flag and the unity of the States. It was early in 
June, 1861. I had known him intimately for several years, and had 
greatly admired his political course and public record. I was then an 
ardent Democrat, and felt a curiosity to learn his views of the impending 
conflict, its magnitude, and its probable issue. He was intensely iiatriolic 
and zealous in the cause of putting down the Rebellion. I remember e.\- 
pressions of this character : "All party feelings, at such times as these, 
when the safety and integrity of the Union are threatened, must yield to 
the single thought of suppressing the Rebellion ;" " No man, who has re- 
gard for his reputation and history in the future, can now afford to be 
lukewarm and indifferent in this cauee;" " I am too old to take an active 
hand in the contest, but I felicitate y< u, and men of your age, in the stand 



186 JOHN DAVIS. 

When Company A, First New Jersey Cavalry/ raised 
chiefly in the counties of Montgomery and Bucks, 
left Hatboro, August 5, i86i,to join their regiment, 
at Trenton, N. J., he made the farewell address in 
the presence of a large concourse of neighbors and 
friends. 

One of the most useful organizations in the 
county, to give aid and comfort to the soldiers and 
their families, during the War of the Rebellion, was 
the Hartsville Ladies' Aid Society. He presided at 
the second meeting ; his daughter Elizabeth was its 
president to the close of the war, and he one of its 
most active and useful members. It was organized 
in October, 1861, about the time the One Hundred 
and Fourth Regiment was ready for the field. A 



you have taken, and the course you are pursuing;" "I remember the 
odium which attached and adhered to the Tories of the Revolution, and 
their descendants, down to the present time. A greater infamy awaits the 
memory of those who now turn their backs to their country in its hour of 
danger;" " Peace and unity first, then party." His age, his dignified de- 
meanor, and his earnestness and candor made an indelible impression, in 
all that he said. A thousand pardons for my delay in fulfilling my 
promise. Yours very truly, (Signed) Joseph Thomas. 

To Gen. W . W . H. Davis. 

' The First New Jersey Cavalry was recruited by William Halstead, of 
Trenton, in the summer of 1861, and went to Washington that fall. Hal- 
stead resigned soon afterwards, and it fell into abler hands. It became one 
of the best cavalry regiments in service. Company A held its first re-union 
at Hatboro, August 5, 1886, just twenty-five years after it left for the war, 
when an address was made on the occasion by General W. W. H. Davis, 
son of General John Davis, who made the farewell address just twenty-five 
years before. 



JOHN DAVIS. 187 

few days before it left for Washington, it marched 
down to Hartsville, over a thousand strong, and the 
officers and men were entertained right royally by 
the inhabitants of that place and vicinity. They 
were dined at long tables set in a field below the 
public inn, on the Bristol road. Those most active 
in getting up this entertainment were the men and 
women engaged in organizing the Aid Society. The 
membership reached one hundred and forty-one dur- 
ing the winter. The amount paid into the treasury 
was $2,986.93. and twenty-nine boxes, whose con- 
tents were valued at $4,050, were forwarded to the 
army. The society was dissolved at the close of the 
war. 

In all public affairs of the county, General Davis 
took a leading part, and was a pioneer of thought 
and opinion on all questions that interested his peo- 
ple. He was always ready to serve the public 
"without money and without price." This was 
notably the case in his opposition to the scheme to 
divide the county, one of the three original counties 
of the province.*' Several attempts were made dur- 
ing his residence" in it. It was a political measure, 



« By virtue of an act of the Provincial Assembly, of March, 1683, Penn- 
sylvania was divided into three counties, Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester. 
It was originally called " Buckingham." "Bucks" gradually grew into 
use. The original seal of the county was a " tree and a vine." 

' An attempt was made to divide the county, in 1814, soon after the 
seat of justice was removed to Doylestown ; then in 1816, again in 1821, 
1827, and in 1S36. The attempt of 1855 was the most serious, and came 



188 JOHN DAVrS. 

which he bitterly opposed, and both wrote and spoke 
against it. The most desperate attempt at division 
was made in 1854. The bill had passed the Senate 
with little opposition, and the House committee 
was ready to report it favorably, when General Davis 
was waited on by some of his political enemies, and 
urged to go to Harrisburg and defeat the measure. 
It was conceded he was the only man in the county 
who could do it. When he appeared upon the scene, 
its friends were jubilant over the certainty of the 
passage of the bill. He took the matter in hand, 
and wielded his personal and political influence with 
such prudence and sagacity he defeated it without 
difficulty. The House committee reported against 
it, and it was allowed to sleep the sleep that knows 
no waking. The new Constitution makes it difficult 
to divide counties, and it is to be hoped that Bucks, 
once the home of William Penn the Founder, may 
never have her present boundaries disturbed. 

General Davis never refused his support to any 
movement for good in his neighborhood. If he did 
not originate, he was one of the first to lend assist- 
ance. If a turnpike was to be built, a road opened ; 
if the public need required a railroad laid out through 
his section, a church or school house built, or a 
lyceum established, he was one of the first applied 

the nearest to success. The new county, to be called " Penn," was to 
have a population of 29,381, of which 20,274 were to come from Bucks, 
and 9,107 from the six rural districts of Philadelphia. 



JOHN DAVIS. 189 

to for encouragement, and it was seldom, if ever, 
refused. 

He retained his interest in public affairs to the 
last. On the first day of February, 1878, he visited 
Newtown to take part in the opening of the railroad 
from Philadelphia. It was a bleak, wintry day, and 
the ground covered with snow ; nevertheless he 
made a speech in the open air, and his voice was 
loud and clear. At this time he was within six 
months of ninety years of age. His health was good 
and he enjoyed the occasion exceedingly. On the 
first of March, a month later, he was present at the 
centennial celebration at Doylestown, another season 
of enjoyment for him. Among the prominent per- 
sons present were General Robert Patterson, General 
Simon Cameron, George W. Childs, Esq.,'" proprie- 
tor of the Public Ledger, and Count Dassi," Presi- 



'" George W. Childs was born in Maryland, and came to Philadelphia 
when fourteen. He began his business career as a shopboy in a bookstore, 
and next opened a small bookstore in the old Ledger Building, Third and 
Chestnut. In time he became a book publisher, and his firm, Childs & 
Peterson, was one of the most respected and enterprising. He turned 
aside to realize the crowning ambition of his life, in 1864, and became the 
proprietor of the Public Ledger. He lent all his energy and talent to 
make it a leading newspaper, and the net income of $i,oooaday is evidence 
of its financial success, Mr. Childs is noted for his princely hospitality and 
generosity, his quiet acts of kindness flowing in a thousand channels. He 
is one of the richest and most respected citizens of Philadelphia and the 
country. 

" Count Guiseppe Dassi, President of the Italian Commission to the 
Centennial of 1876, is a distinguished patriot and citizen of Italy. He has 
spent several years of his life in political {prisons, for opinion sake. He 



190 JOHN DAVIS. 

dent of the Italian Centennial Commission. No one 
enjoyed the occasion more than he, and being sur- 
rounded with so many friends seemed to revive his 
youth. He returned home in the best of spirits, and 
it was not known that he was injuriously affected by 
the exposure. 

He possessed great decision of character, and, if 
satisfied he was right, could not be moved. This 
trait was tested a few years after he settled in South- 
ampton, when a young man. As he was driving a 
heavy load of sawed lumber to Philadelphia, he was 
met, just below the Fox C'lase,'^ by a handsome car- 
riage, with driver and outriders in livery. The mud 
was deep, with a single track, and it was impossible 
to turn out. Both parties halted, when the occupant 
of the carriage put his head out the window, and, in 
an imperative tone, ordered the young man with the 
team to turn out and let him pass. This he declined 
to do ; whereupon the occupant of the carriage 
ordered one of his servants to seize the horses and 



was a trusted friend of Garibaldi and Mazzini, in tlie Revolution that 
freed Italy from Austrian rule, and he was one of the triumvirs that gov- 
erned the country at that critical period. He is a man of learning and a 
great linguist. He remained in Philadelphia, studying our institutions, 
until 18S4, when he returned to Italy. The King decorated him for his 
services at the Centennial. 

'2 The village of Fox Chase, on the Middle, or Oxford, road, in Phila- 
delphia county, took its name from the sign cf " a fox chase " that swung 
at the public house. It was a noted hostelry in its day, and much patron- 
ized bv farmers and others. It is still in license as an inn. 



JOHN DAVIS. 191 

turn them out in the mud. This brought things to 
a crisis. He now placed himself in front of his team, 
cart-whip in hand, and told his haughty opponent, 
in a quiet way, he would knock down the first man 
who touched his horses. This settled the contro- 
versy ; the carriage turned out and drove on, and the 
team pursued its way to the city. The carriage 
stopped at the Fox Chase tavern, and the occupant 
inquired the name of the man with the team, saying 
he wished to prosecute him. But when told who he 
was, and the kind of man he had to deal with, he 
reversed his decision. The occupant of the carriage 
was a foreign Consul residmg at Philadelphia. He 
may have been able to drive over plain people at 
home, but a Bucks county farmer taught him he 
could not do it in this countr}-. 

Among General Davis' peculiarities, and all men of 
his positive character have them, was that of talking 
to himself, on subjects he took an interest in, while 
walking about his farms, at his home, or driving 
around the country. The writer has often listened 
to him discuss the tariff and other questions, in the 
presence of an imaginary audience, and seen him 
gesticulate as if addressing a listening senate. He 
received the full benefit of these discourses, and fre- 
quently learned things not to be found in the books. 
One day one of his daughters, who understood this 
peculiarity of her father, heard him discussing some 
questions alone in the sitting room. When she came 



192 JOHN DAVIS. 

in, shortly afterward, she said to him, " Papa, who 
were you talking to, a few minutes ago?" to which he 
replied, " Elizabeth, I was talking to a very sensible 
man." They mutually smiled, but nothing further 
was said. A few years before his death he built a 
cottage on the opposite side of the Street road for 
his daughter, Mrs. Dufifield, but she never occupied 
it. In 1876, he removed his own family into it 
from the dwelling adjoining the store-house, where 
he had lived forty-six years, and there spent the re 
mainder of his life. His daughter Elizabeth con- 
tinued to preside over his household. 

We now come to the close of this long and active 
life. His last illness was of short duration. Although 
blessed with general good health and seldom sick, 
he suffered many years from dj-spepsia. He was 
taken to bed at the age of eighty, and his life dis- 
paired of, for a time, but he was restored, and seemed 
to enjoy better health than before. He was as well 
as usual, down to within less than thirty days of his 
death. There were indications of a slight attack of 
paralysis, but his last sickness was caused by the 
wearing out and running down of the machinery of 
life. He was confined to his bed about three weeks, 
when he passed peacefully to 

"That undiscovered country" 

the poet writes about, the first day of April, 1878, 
within four months of ninety. He was buried on the 



JOHN DAVIS. 193 

4th, in the old graveyard of the Southampton Baptist 
church, where a granite monument marks the resting 
places of himself and wife. The estimation in which 
deceased was held was attested by the attendance 
at his funeral, one of the largest ever held in the 
county. A dozen clergymen were present, and the 
Rev. S. V. Marsh, pastor of the church, preached an 
appropriate sermon. 

While the death of General Davis was a loss to 
all circles he moved in, it was most severely felt in 
the neighborhood where he had lived sixt}'-five 
years, and for which he had done so much. Taking 
him away was the removal of the central figure of 
the community. His character may be summed up 
in a few words ; he was a sincere Christian, an 
affectionate husband and father, a good friend and 
neighbor, a just and upright man, a public-spirited 
citizen, and a lover of his country. 

The death of General Davis was very generally 
noted in the newspapers of the State, and by a num- 
ber out of it. Some of them published lengthy 
obituary notices ; and in all, his high qualities as a 
man and citizen were recognized. The Bucks 
County Bible Society, which he had assisted to 
organize, and, at one time, was one of the Vice 
Presidents, took oflficial notice of his decease, and 
acknowledged his services. At the sixty-second 
annual meeting, held the 19th of September, 1879, 
at the Neshaminy Presbyterian church, the following 



194 JOHN DAVIS. 

preamble and resolutions, offered by Rev. William 
H. Conard, were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, Since the last 'meeting of this Society, 
our Heavenly Father has removed from earth, 
General John Davis, one of the founders of this 
Society, and for many years a Vice President, 
therefore, resolved, 

1. That we bow in humble submission to the good 
will of God, who gives to his servants their day of 
labor and takes them to their reward. 

2. We remember with gratitude the loving interest 
which General Davis ever manifested in the work of 
this Society, and the efficient aid which he was ever 
ready to afford in giving the Bible to the needy. 

3. We thank God that he spared his servant to a 
good old age, and gave him the peaceful, happy 
death of the righteous. 

4. W'e commend the family of our brother to the 
precious consolations of God, upon which his own 
hope for the future was founded. 

General Davis was a link between the Old and the 
New. His life spanned the most interesting period 
of our history. He was born less than a year after 
the Constitution was formed ; the same year the 
government went into operation ; and before all the 
thirteen Colonies had entered the Union. When he 
died, he was as old as the government. He lived 
through the period our republican system was on 
trial ; he witnessed the dangers that beset it, and 
shared in the rejoicings when they were met and 
overcome. He saw, and conversed with, the men 



JOHN DAVIS. 195 

who gained our independence, and established the 
Union ; and survived the great struggle for its per- 
petuation eighty years afterward. In his lifetime, 
the republic grew from thirteen feeble States to thirty- 
eight powerful commonwealths ; the population was 
increased from less than four millions to fifty. He 
witnessed the same mighty changes in social and 
domestic life. When he was twenty-one, the simple 
and economic habits of the Revolution prevailed. 
He lived to see luxury and extravagance increase 
with the accumulation of riches; and, when he died, 
the country was filled with nabobs whose habits 
were princely. The rapid growth of wealth had 
changed the habits of the people, and made them the 
most wasteful on earth. It is vouchsafed to few 
men, to live through such an eventful period. There 
have been greater men than John Davis, but none 
with nobler qualities of head and heart, nor with 
higher principles, nor of whom, in the discharge of 
all the duties of life, it can be more worthily said : 

" Well done, thou good and faithful servant." 



Appendix. 



APPENDIX. 

We have space for only the following newspaper 
notices of the death of General Davis : 

The Natiotial Baptist . 

General Davis was a representative man. He filled important positions 
in the government, and always to the joy of those who confided their trust 
to him ; whether as a military officer, member of Congress, Surveyor of 
the Port, Appraiser of Public \V'orks, or any of the various positions in 
public, and private life, with which an appreciative people were con- 
stantly honoring him, he made every other question yield to that of strict 
justice. He was a man of very positive character, and where he set him- 
self to gain a point it would require a host to prevent him securing it. 
But with all he was gentle and loving in his home, and greatly esteemed 
by all who knew him. He was a wise counselor, and a friend to the de- 
serving youth of his neighborhood. He leaves behind him an honored 
family. 

The Public Ledger. 

General John Davis, who died at his home, in Bucks county, on .Mon- 
day, and of whose public life a sketch is published in another column of 
the Ledger^ to-day, was one of the class of farmer-statesmen whom Penn- 
sylvania called upon to represent her more frequently half a century ago 
than to-day. He belonged to the .school of citizens who feel they have 
duties to discharge as well as rights to assert. When duty called him he 
was always ready, whether it was to consider the affairs of the village in 
which he resided, the welfare of the county, or the State or the nation. 
He had full part in the councils of all of them, doing his share of the work 
whether it called him to the repair of the township road, the i.Tiprovement 
of the local school, marching with his company of riflemen in defence of 
the country, or going to Congress. Though a resident of a somewhat 
secluded agricultural district, and his immediate home being in a small 
village, his influence forty to fifty years ago was felt all over the State. 

During the active period of his political life General Davis was a leader 
of the Democratic party, in the days when Democracy meant something 



iv JOHN DAVIS. 

more than a party cry at election time. He was sturdy in the faith, and 
strong in the reasons and the facts upon which his paity convictions were 
founded, and it took a powerful adversary to cope with him successfully in 
debate, whether on the party platform or in Congress. He was close 
enough to the founders of the Republic to feel that political principles are 
vital things, for his voting days began under President Madison, and his 
life went back over the whole period covered by the Constitution of the 
United States. He lived far beyond the " three-score years and ten," be- 
ing within four months of ninety years old at the time of his decease, and 
only a few weeks ago he was the picture of health. In private life he was 
a kindly, genial gentleman, charitable to those needing his help, a good 
and useful citizen, highly respected and confided in by the people of the 
State, beloved by his neighbors and family, and, as he advanced toward 
patriarchal age, held in just veneration. 

The Times, Philadelphia. 

After an uncommonly long, active and useful life. General John Davis, 
of Davisville, Bucks county, died at his residence in that place yesterday, 
(April i), in the ninetieth year of his age. He came of good Revolu- 
tionary stock, his father having fought through the whole War of the 
Revolution, and assisted in carrying General Lafayette off the field, when 
wounded at the battle of Brandywine. He was born in this State, but at 
an early age he removed to Maryland, where he remained until the break- 
ing out of the war with Great Britain, in 1812, when he returned to his 
native State, and located at what is now Davisville. * * * 

* * * * For nearly half a century he was a prominent 

Democratic leader in the county and State, and also wielded a large influ- 
ence in National affairs. He belonged to the upright, vigorous men of a 
former age, and his discharge of public duties was of the most pure and 
rigid character. He turned neither to the right nor the left, but took the 
straight line with pure heart and clean hands. He was intensely 
ardent in his love of country, and would have sacrificed his life 
and property on its altar, without a moment's hesitation. As an 
advocate he was sharp and incisive. As a political fighter he asked no 
quarter and gave none. But he was fair to an opponent, and only claimed 
what he thought was due to the facts he presented. No man ever held so 
long a lease of political power in a county as General Davis, and used that 
power with a more conscientious regard for the people with whom he was 
associated. As a soldier his record is without blemish. He rose from 
Lnsign, through all the ranks of command, to Major-General of the 



JOHN DAVIS. V 

military division composed of Bucks and Montfjomery counties, and as a 
drill master and disciplinarian never had an equal in the State. Under 
General Davis the volunteers of that section of the State acquired an en- 
viable reputation. * * * -if * j^ his immediate 
neighborhood he was truly a Good Samaritan, and his memory will long 
be embalmed in the recollection of a grateful people. He was an earnest, 
consistent Christian, and the close of his long career was hallowed by that 
calm and peaceful repose, which only religion can bestow. 



Bucks Comity Intelligeticer. 

After an illness of about ten days, which, from the beginning, was ex- 
pected by his physician and his family to be fatal, General John Davis died 
at his residence, in Davisville, Southampton township, on Monday fore- 
noon. In a private capacity the life of General Davis was mostly spent as 
a merchant and farmer in the village of Davisville, where he kept the store 
and post office for a long number of years. The last public appearance of 
General Davis was on the occasion of the Centennial Celebration in Doyles- 
town, just a month before his death, when he met and renewed former 
personal associations with General Cameron and several other old friends. 
***** When the war for the Union broke out 

no man in Bucks county was more active and energetic in promoting en- 
listments, and encouraging the people to send help to the soldiers in the 
field. At the war meetings held in the vicinity, his voice was raised for the 
good cause, and substantial help was given by himself and his family to 
the Aid Societies within reach. In the bitter struggle of i860, he had been 
a steadfast Douglass man, and he did not abandon his .sentiments when 
the hour of trial came. ***** Those who 

sought to argue with him, on almost any subject, found him a formidable 
antagonist, always ready with pertinent facts and illustrations to enforce 
his particular views. Although a radical Democrat, he did not allow 
political differences to appear in his social life, and members of all parties 
were equally welcome at his fireside and generous board. To young men, 
especially, he was always kind and encouraging, helping them, whenever 
he could, by a word of timely advice, toward success and honor. In a 
word. General Davis was a fair type of the active, industrious and far- 
sighted men of the last generation, now fast disappearing, who did so 
much to build up the social and material features of the system of life we 
enjoy to-day. 



vi JOHN DAVrS. 

A correspondent of the Daily Herald, Norristown, 
wrote : 

General John Davis, of Davisville, Bucks county, died on Monday, April 
ist. He was a soldier of 1812, the founder of the village which bears his 
name, an honored, useful and public-spirited citizen, prominent politician 
and Christian gentleman, having commenced life by labor in a saw-mill, 
which he still worked till his death. He was commander of the American 
forces which welcomed General Lafayette to the State of Pennsylvania on 
his visit to America, member of Congress, Surveyor of the Port of Phila- 
delphia, etc. 

His burial was very largely attended. Eleven ministers assisted at the 
funeral. There were eighteen bearers, among whom were General Robert 
Patterson, General H. G. Sickel, Judge Cadwalader, Judge Watson, 
Judge Ross, Hon. I. Newton Evans, Hon. Harman Yerkes, Hon. Charles 
H. Hill, and N. B. Johnson, Esq. 

The attendance of friends of the deceased was immen.se. Three hundred 
persons took breakfast, and five hundred took dinner at his residence, 
while the entire community turned out. 

The notable feature was the large number of old men present. So many 
gray-haired citizens were never seen together in this vicinity. 

Funeral of General Davis. — The funeral ceremonies of the late General 
John Davis were held at his residence, in Davi.'^ville, and at the South- 
ampton Baptist church, on Thursday. By ten o'clock in the forenoon the 
neighbors and friends began to assemble, and by eleven a very large com- 
pany of people had gathered. The residents of the neighborhood were 
strongly represented, for General Davis had lived among them for more 
than sixty years, and was in all respects identified with them and their in- 
terests. There were also many present from a greater distance, including 
men who are widely known in public life. Among the company thus 
gathered were Judge Cadwalader, Judge Paxson, Judge Mercur (son-in- 
law of the deceased), Judge Yerkes, Judge Watson, Judge Ross, General 
Robert Patterson, Hon. Cal?b N. Taylor, Hon. I. N. Evans, Major John 
O. James, Col. Isaiah James, Senator Yerkes, Count Dassi, Rev. Mahlon 
Long, G. Rodman Fox, Esq., and many others more or less widely known 
in the community. At the house the ceremonies were very brief, consisting 
mainly of a prayer by Rev. W. E. Jones, of Hartsville. The arrange- 
ments for the funeral were under the direction of Rev. Mr. Marsh, pastor 



JOHN DAVIS. vii 

of the Davisville church, with which General Davis was connected. The 
appearance of the remains was but little changed by death, and his 
strongly-marked features were easily recognized. The body was carried 
out by a number of his old friends and neighbors, and it was attended by 
six of the gentlemen from abroad as pall-bearers. The long procession of 
vehicles passed ever the road by way of Southamptorville to the South- 
ampton church, which was attended by the deceased many years ago, and 
in the burial-ground of which his wife was buried almost a generation 
since. Here the church was completely filled with people. The exercises 
in the building consisted of a prayer by Rev. Lewis Munger, of New 
Britain, reading of a portion of Scripture by Rev. Mahlon Long, prayer 
by Rev. Mr. Nimmo, the funeral sermon by Rev. Mr. Marsh, and a prayer 
by Rev. Mr. Bowman. Mr. Marsh's sermon was a well-prepared and 
eloquent one, and contained a warm tribute to the good qualities of General 
Davis as they had become known to the speaker since his residence in 
Davisville. Rev. W. H. Conard and Rev. George Hand, both of whom 
had lived for many years in close association with the deceased, were called 
upon and bore testimony to the great worth and many virtues of their old 
friend and neighbor. At the grave the ceremonies were brief, and were 
conducted by Revs. Spencer and Marsh. The sober and attentive de- 
meanor of the audience through all the exercises was very noticeable, and 
nearly every one had some tribute of respect and regard to express toward 
the life and character of the deceased. It was three o'clock when the 
funeral was completed and the company had left the church and burial 
ground. — Bucks Cottnty Intelligencer. 



The following letters were received, among others : 

House of Represent.\tives, Washington, D. C., April 2, 1878. 
My Dear Sir : — I received this morning, with surprise and sorrow, the 
invitation to attend your father's funeral, at Davisville, on Thursday. 
After a long life of usefulness he has gone, and his family can look with 
pride to his conduct through life, both public and private. My public 
duties will not permit me to be present at the funeral, which is a source of 
much regret to me, but I beg that you convey to his family my most heart- 
felt condolence. Sincerely yours, 

(Signed Saml. J. Randall. 



viii JOHN DAVIS. 

DoYLESTOWN, April 5, 1878. 
Dear General : — I sincerely rejjret that I was unable to attend the 
funeral of your lamented father. Had I been well, I certainly would have 
united with his many friends in rendering the tribute due to the remains of 
a distinguished citizen and Christian gentleman. After a well-spent life 
he has passed away, full of years, and crowned with the respect and venera- 
tion of all who survive him. Faithfully jours, 

{Signed) Henrv Ch.\PM.\N. 



Germ.\nto\vn, Pa., April 2, 1878. 
^fy Dear Sir : — I tender, to you and yours, my sincere sympathy in the 
sad bereavement that you have experienced in the loss of so kind a father, 
so eminent a citizen, and so exemplary a Christian. To me he was a 
friend and adviser when I was almost a stranger in your county, and to 
that pleasant acquaintance I have frequently recurred, and never shall I 
forget his clear judgment and strong convictions. He was truly a Saul 
among men — in mind, stature and age. " May my last end be like his." 
1 hope to get up to the funeral. \'ery truly your friend, 

^Signed) Ch.\s. W. Carrigan. 



Philadelphia, April 4, 187S. 
My Dear IVa'fs : — I deeply regretted to hear, on Monday morning from 
Judge Mercur, the tidings of the death of your venerable and excellent 
father. As far back as my memory goes, his face has been a familiar one 
to me, and I have hoped to look upon it again in this world. But the last 
of my father's circle of devoted friends is gone, and it was not my privilege 
to see him once more. He was, indeed, like a shock of corn ripe for the 
harvest, and it is a source of great thankfulness, that the close of such a 
well spent life was undimmed by any cloud, but that with faculties unim- 
paired, with the unfaltering trust in Him who is mighty to save, he calmly 
laid down to rest, and that now, though absent from the body, he is 
present with the Lord. * * * * With my kindest 

regards to your sisters, believe me most truly, your old friend, 

(Signed) Epwakd J. Fox. 



JOHN DAVIS. ix 

The Rev. William S. Wood, the pastor of General 
Davis, while he attended the Hatboro Baptist 
church, and under whose ministrations he became a 
member, and who baptized him, writes us, from 
Mount Pleasant, Pa., under date of June 8, 1885 : 

I am glad you are going to write the life of General John Davis. His 
natural traits of character were strongly marked, and all he did and said 
bore the impress of his strong individuality. Physically, he was robust, 
close built, compact and sinewy. He had a clear-working, practical mind, 
with sound judgment and good sense (which Robert Hall says is the most 
uncommon kind of sense). He had a clear discernment of what ought to 
be done, and vi-as fertile in expedients for accomplishing his ends. He had 
the courage of his convictions, and possessed remarkable energy and force 
of will, which carried him beyond all opposition. He was full of enter- 
prise, and had the power of acting on others, so as to stir them up to do 
their duty ; and naturally was such a man as is invaluable to any com- 
munity in a worldly point of view. 

But I knew him better as a Christian man. He had been a leader in 
worldly matters ; he at once became equally prominent as a leader in re- 
ligion. The decision, promptness, energy, liberality, and other traits for 
which he was remarkable in his unrenewed state, but sanctified, and under 
the impulse of nobler motives, and directed to nobler ends, he manifested 
in his Christian life. The man made the Christian. It is not so always. 
The world often complains that the church does not make better men. 
The material we have to work upon comes from the world. Let the world 
give us better material, and we will show them better Christians. But the 
fact is, the world has not got many such specimens as John Davis, and but 
few of them are called, and, for this reason, it is unfair to expect to find 
many in the church. 

There is one thing that deserves special mention, which I have often re- 
ferred to, when preaching elsewhere, his regularity in attending the meet- 
ings of the church. During the two years and three months I was pastor, 
after he connected with the church, he was present at every prayer meeting, 
church meeting and Sabbath service, except one. Without regard to the 
weather, or state of the roads, he was there, driving six miles to and from 
his home, and on the Sabbath twice. 



X JOHN DAVrS. 

PHiLAnELPHiA, Pa., May 23, 18S5. 
W. \V. H. Davis, Esq.— Dea>- Sir:—* ***** 
>s- * * I began my pastorate at Davis ville church in Sep- 

tember, 1862. At that time, and for some time after, your father and his 
family worshipped with the Hatboro church, with which he united under 
the ministry of Rev. W. S. Wood. Though not a member with us, it was 
not long before I became acquainted with him, and was cordially wel- 
comed to his home. After I had been at Davisville a few years, I had the 
pleasure of receiving him and his family into the fellowship of the church. 
Growing physical infirmity and the distance from Hatboro were among 
the chief reasons for changing his church relationship. I esteemed it a 
very great privilege to have him a member of our church. His influence 
in the community was of great advantage to us. He was very regular in 
his attendance upon all the services. He was always ready to do his duty 
in every department of church work. His presence and speech were an 
inspiration to pastor and people. As a son with a father I lived in inti- 
mate relation with him for fourteen years, and the longer I knew him the 
better I loved him. He left an impress for good on the community, in 
which he lived so long, that will influence generations to come. I have 
often referred to his life as an illustration of the influence one man can 
exert in a community for righteousness. I am grateful for the privilege of 
having had so intimate an acquaintance with him. 
********** 

Yours very truly, 
{Signed,) W. H. Conard. 



Index. 



Amboy Expedition, The. lo. 
Andre, Major, 22. Anchor Tavern, 
.■^5. Alert Rifle Company, 70 ; 
Drill of, 71,72. Anderson, S. D., 
71. Asten, Captain, 73. Applebach, 
Paul, 79. Archambault, Joseph, 
80, 81. Amendment, Constitutional, 
no. Afflerbach, Samuel, 113. 
Adams, John Quincy, 119, 123. 
Atlanta, 177. 



Stephen, 83, 102. Baird, Captain 
Francis, 106, 107. Bertles, Jacob, 
113. Bill, Independent Treasury, 
115. Benton, Thomas H., T25. 
Bucharan, James, 126, 132, 138, 
140, 146. Bristol, 131. Butler, 
William O., 137. Breckenridg-e, 
John C, 142. Black, Jeremiah S., 
146. Brodhead, Richard, 148. 
Buchanan-Forney Quarrel, 155. 
Baptist Association, Southampton, 
168. 



B 



Burley, Sarah, 4. Burley, John, 
Sr., 4 ; Family of, 4 ; Will of, 5. 
Burley, John, Jr., 5. Bucks County 
Battalion, g ; Takes the Field, 10. 
Butler, Thomas, 13. Butler, Rich- 
ard, 14. Beatty, Erkuries, 14. 
Beatty, Rev. Charles, 15. Brandy- 
wine, Battle of, ig. Berg;en Point, 
22. British Emissaries Hanged, 23. 
Bounty, Land Allotment, 2g. 
Boyd, Rev. James, 30. Bye, Jona- 
than, et al., 36. Booth, Georg;e, 
^r■,. Bucyrus, 41. Baltimore, 56. 
Pyberry, 46. Bethlehem, 73. Bucks 
County Riflemen, 60 ; Uniforms 
Made Up, 61 ; iNIustered Out, 67. 
Push Hill, 62, 65. Boileau, Camp, 
68. Bucks County, Quota of, 75. 
X'olunteer Companies in, 75, Brit- 
ish Frig-ate Leopard, 75. Bucks 
County Volunteers, The First Reg- 
iment of, 77. Black Bear, 77 ; 
Trainings at, 78. Bryan, John S., 
7Q. Bessonette, Mrs. 84. Bristol 
College, Cadets of, 87. Brock, 



Committee of Safety, 9. Con- 
gress, Continental, 9. Craig, 
Thomas, 13, Church, Neshaminy, 
15. Coryell's Ferry, 18, 21. Corn- 
wallis. Surrender of, 24. Colum- 
bus, Ohio, 38. Church, Southamp- 
ton Baptist, 44. Crispins, The, 47. 
Charleston, S. C, 48. Callowhills, 
The, 55. Cross Roads, The, 57, 75. 
Cadwallader, General Thomas, 63. 
Campaign, Hardships of, 64. 
Chester. 65. Crown Inn, 73. 
Clunn, Captain, 74. Centreville, 
75. Chesapeake, The, 75. Craven, 
Thomas B., 80. Camp Washing- 
ton, 88. Camp Jefferson, 88. 
Camp Jackson, 8g. Camp Kos- 
cuisko, go. Coalition, The Adams- 
Clay, g6. Coryell, Lewis S., 98. 
Churchville, loi. Chapman, Henry, 
107. Constitution, Revision of, 
III. Courter, The Boston, 115. 
Campaign, Log Cabin and Hard 
Cider, 122. Calhoun, John C, 
125. Clay, Henry, 128. California, 



INDEX. 



135. Cass, Lewis, 137. Cameron, 
Simon, 147 ; He Comes to Doyles- 
town, 151. 189. County P(jlitical 
Leaders, 149 ; Honors They At- 
tained, 151. County Politics, 15-5. 
Childs, George W., 189. 



Davis, William, 3, 4, 6 ; Widow 
of, 7. Davis, John Sr., Boyhood 
of, 8 ; Joins Continental Army, 11 ; 
Enlistment in, 13 ; Regiments 
Served in, 16 ; Assisted to Carry 
Lafayette from Field of Brandy- 
wine, 19 ; Wounded, 22 ; Guard 
when Andre Hanged, 22 ; In Re- 
volt of Pennsylvania Line, 23 ; 
Discharged, 26 ; Applies for State 
Pension, 27; Returns from Army, 
27 ; Oath of Allegiance, 28 ; Re- 
ceives Bounty Land, 29; Marries, 
30 ; His Children, 31 ; Removes to 
Maryland, 34 ; Journey Thereto, 
35, 36; Removes to Ohio, 38 ; Death, 
39 ; Widow, Pension Granted to, 
39. Davis, Samuel and Joseph, 39. 
Davis, William and Sarah, 40. 
Davis, Joshua, 41. Davisville, 44, 
133. Dublin, Lower, 49. Doyles- 
town, 53, 75, 109. Duffield, J. 
Davis, 40, 56, 174. Daniels, Lieu- 
tenant Samuel, 58. Darby, 63. 
Dupont, Camp, 65 ; Troops Arrive 
at, 66. Dungan, General Mahlon, 
82. Diller, Captain Isaac R., 
89. Davis, W. W. H., Letter 
Written to, 104. Dickens, Asbury, 
121. Douglass, Stephen A., 142. 
Dallas, George M., 146. Duffield, 
A. T., 164, 171. Davisville, Post 
Office at, 165. Duffield, T. H. 
Benton, 174. Davis, W, W. H., 
177 ; Public Services, 178. Division 
of County, 188. Dassi, Count, 189. 
Davis, John, Birth of, 41 ; Goes to 
School, 41 ; Removes to Maryland, 
42 ; Brought up to Work, 42 ; 
Drives Team to Pittsburg, 43 ; 
Buys His Time of His Father, 43 ; 



Marries, 44 ; His Destiny Changed, 
45 ; Settles in Southampton, 56 ; 
Volunteers, 57 ; Ensign, 59 ; Dis- 
charged, G3 ; Captain of Volunteers, 
70 ; Elected I^ieutenant Colonel, 77 ; 
Commands Lafayette's Escort, 84 ; 
Presented to Him, 84 ; Elected 
Brigade Inspector, 85 ; Major-Gen- 
eral do., 85 ; Twice Re-elected, 86 ; 
Politician, 94 ; As a Defender of 
Jackson, 96; Debates Sunday Mail 
Question, loi ; Candidate for 
Sheriff, 102 ; Appointed on Board 
of Appraisers, 103 ; Appointed Mar- 
shall, 106 ; Nominated for Congress, 
112; Elected, 113; Toasts, Compli- 
mentary to, 113; Takes His Seat, 
1 14 ; Speech on Independent Treas- 
ury Bill, 115; Notices on, 116, 117; 
Speech on Pension Bill. 118 ; 
Notices of, iig; On Committee of 
Manufactures, 120; Course on 
Tariff, 121 ; Party to Anecdote, 
122; Letter from Mr. VanBuren, 
123 ; Mentioned for Governor, 124 ; 
Activity in Politics, 127 ; Public Dis- 
cussions, 129, 130 ; Surveyor of 
Port, 131 ; Cane Presented to, 131 ; 
Leaves Surveyor's Office, 133 ; 
Supports the Mexican War, 137 ; 
Visits His Mother, 138; Satisfac- 
tion at Buchanan's Election, 140 ; 
Refused to Support His Policy, 141 ; 
Supports Douglass, 143 ; Fore- 
shadows the Civil War, 144 ; Con- 
nection with the Buchanan-Forney 
Quarrel, 159 ; His Start in Life and 
Labors, 162, 163 ; Removes His 
Family and Keeps Store, 164 ; 
Gradually Acquires Real Estate 
167 ; Superintendent of Sunday 
School, etc., 168; Keeps Open 
House, 168 ; Joins Hatboro Church, 
172; Takes Letters to Davisville 
Church, 173; Visits Boston, 173; 
Marriage of Daughters, 174, 176; 
Death of Wife, 176 ; Public and 
Private Character, 179, 180, 181 ; 
Full of Patriotism, 182 ; Conduct 
During Civil War, 183, 184, 185 ; 
Visits Camps of One Hundred and 



INDEX. 



Fourth and Third Reserves, 1S4, 
1S6 ; Ready to Serve the Public, 187 ; 
At Newtown Railroad Opening and 
Doylestown Centennial, 189 ; De- 
cision of Character, igo ; A Pecu- 
liarity, 191 ; Last Illness and Death, 
192 ; His Character, 193 ; Resolu- 
tions of Regret and Condolence, 
194 ; Link Between the Old and the 
New, 194 ; Lived Through an 
Eventful Period, 195. 



Ellicotts, The, ;i2 ; Removal to 
Maryland, 34 ; Upper Mills, 41. 
Eaton, Sarah, 49. Emigrants, Mor- 
mon, 135. English, Earl, 171. 
Erwin, James, 174. Endlich, Gus- 
tav A., 174. Eshleman, B. F., 176. 



General, 23. Havre de Grace, 36. 
Hart, Amy, 44. Hart, John, 46. 
Hart, Oliver, 48. Holme Family, 
The, 47. Hart, Josiah, 52, 54. 
Hart, William Watts, 52, 53, 57, 
62. Humphrey, Colonel Thomas, 
53. Hallowell's Mill, 55. Horner, 
Lieutenant James, 58. Hart, 
Samuel, 59. Hart, Adjutant, A 
Letter from, 65. Hiester, Governor, 
76. Horner, John, 96. Halsey, 
Rev. A, O., 100. Harrisburg, 104. 
Harrow, The, 114. Harrison, 
William Henry, 122. Heiss, John 
P., 131. Hickman, John, 148. 



Indian Children, 42. Ingham, 
Samuel D., 97; In Jackson's Cabi- 
net, 98 ; Returns Home, 105. Re- 
ception at Bear, 107, 146. 



Flying Camp, The, 9. Forts 
Washington and Lee, 10. Friends, 
Division in Society of. 47. Foster's 
Corner, 60. Frankford, 61. Fo.x, 
John, 98, 105. Fox, Judge, log, 
no. Fretz, Abraham, no. For- 
ney, John W., 132, 147. Fillmore, 
Millard, 136. Fremont, John C, 
140, Fox, Edward J., 171. 



J 



Johnsville, 59. James, Isaiah, 
79. Jolly, General Thomas, 86. 
James, John O., 87, 148. Jackson 
and Adams, Campaign of, 95. 
Jackson and Ingham, Breach he- 
tween, 105. Janeway, Dr., 169. 
Jones, Rev. Horatio Gates, 169. 



Great Britain, 8. Germantown, 
Battle of, 20. Georgetown, 35. 
Gayosa, Governor, 50. Gibbs, Cap- 
tain, 74. Golden Era, The, 145. 



H 



K 



Keith, John, 46. Kelley, David 
and Hannah, 62. Kelley, Hon. 
William D., 63. Kinderhook, 123. 
Kentucky, 137. Kansas-Nebraska 
Policy, 140. Keichline's Tavern, 
153. Keichline, Colonel, 154. 



Hart, Colonel Joseph, 9, 18, 48, 
52, 73. Hart, William, 10. Hes- 
sians at Trenton, 11. Howell's 
Ferry, 19. Hartsville, 19. Howe, 



Lafayette, Light Infantry Organ- 
ized for, 16 ; Wounded at Brandy- 



INDEX. 



wine, ig ; Reports for Duty at Head- 
quarters, 19; Passes Through Bucks, 
82 ; Dines at Bristol, 84. Linn, John 
B.,26. Leeds, F.nsjland, 49. Louisi- 
ana, 50. Lig-ht Brigade, The, 63, 66. 
Lancaster, gS. Lewis, Dixon H., 
126. Lincoln, Abraham, Elected 
Presid?nt, 143. Lee, William L., 
170. Lilly, Dr. Samuel, 171. 
Ladies' Aid Society, The Harts- 
ville, 186. 



M 



Monroe, James, II. McClelland, 
Captain Joseph, 16, 24, 27. Morris- 
town, 18. Monmouth, Battle of, 
21. Morrisville, 23 ; Parade at, 76 ; 
Lafayette at, 83. Mercur, Chief 
Justice, 44, 176. Montanye, Rev. 
Thomas B., 44, 6r. Montanye, 
Amv Hart, 4s. Miles, A'illiam, 
ST,. ' Magill, William, 53. Miller, 
Philip, Ti. Morrison, Joseph, 
79. Matthews, Charles H., 7p. 
Mann, Charles H., 79. Militia, 
The State, 92. Middle Road, The, 
106. Middletown, 107. Morns, 
Matthias, 112. Morris, Edward Joy, 
130. Marple, David, 132. Mexi- 
can War, 13s. Mexico, The \'alley 
of, 136. Michig;an, i;?7. -Muhien- 
bsro;, Henry A., 146. Miiflin, 
Benjamin, 152. Matthias, Rev. 
Joseph, 165, 175. Motl, GershoLTi, 
171. Michener, John H.. 171. 
Alercur, Henry, 174. 



N 

Newtown, 7, 30. Neely's Mill, 8. 
Neely, William, 12. Northampton 
County, 13. New Hope, 18. Ne- 
shaminy Hills, 19, Negro Voting, 
107. Nockamixon, 114. Nash- 
ville, 131, 



Penn, Thomas, 4. Pitner, 
Children of John, 7. Putnam, 
General, 10. Philadelphia, 10, 35. 
Princeton, Battle of, 12. Paoli, 
Massacre of, 20. Pennsylvania 
Line, Revolt of, 23. Pidcock's 
Creek, 41. Penn, William, 46. 
Pennepack Baptist Church, 49. 
Purdy, Captain William, 58, 96. 
Pennsylvania Riflemen, First Regi- 
ment of, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67. Purdy, 
Thomas, 77. Patterson, Robert, 
86, iSg. Porter, David R., 86, 90, 
147. Partridge, Captain Alden. 91. 
Political Campaign of 1S28, 97. 
Pugh, John, 105. Point Pleasant, 
114. Presidential Contest, 1844, 
128. Polk, James K., 128, 
135. Port, Surveyor of the, 
131, Pierce, Franklin, 138; His 
Magnanimous Conduct, 155. Por- 
ter," James M., 147. Packer, Wil- 
liam F., 148. Proviso, The Wilmot, 
149. Piper, Colonel, 154. Patter- 
son, Samuel A. W., 177. Patter- 
son, Rear-Admiral Thomas H., 177. 



R 



Ross, Hugh, 41, Ross, Thomas, 
42. Rush, William, 47. Riall, 
General, 67. Rodman, William, 
74. Regiment, Colonel Davis', 83. 
Ritner, Governor, 86, Rodman, 
Gilbert, gS. Rogers, General Wil- 
liam T,, 106, 109. Roberts, Stokes 
L., 108. Roudenbush, Samuel, 
113. Randall, Josiah, 129. Rio 
Grande, The, 134. Richelieu, 154. 
Randall, Samuei J., 170. Reserves, 
The Third Pennsylvania, 185. 



Simmons, John, 5. Slacks, The, 
5. Smith, Samuel, 10. St. Clair, 



INDEX. 



Colonel, 13. Stony Point, 22. 
Simpson, William, 31. Susque- 
hanna, The, 31. Search, Lot, 44. 
Shelmire, William, 52. Shelmire, 
John, 55, 59. Stewart, Joseph, 75. 
Sellers, Samuel, 75. Smith, Samuel 
A., 80. Shelmire, John H., 87. 
Scott, General Win field, 90, 136, 
1-58. Search, Christopher, 96. 
Sunday Mail Question, The, 99. 
Smoketown, loi. Sorrel Horse 
Tavern, The, 106. Solebury Town- 
ship, 107. Shunk, Francis R., 125, 
146. Salt Lake, 135. Stuttgart, 
174. Sells, Holmes, 176. Scout, 
" Cobe," 183. Society, Bucks 
County Bible, 194. 



T 



Township, Solebury, 3, 6, 8, 41. 
Township, Upper Makefield, 4 ; 
Contii^ental Army in, 11. Torbert, 
James, 5. Trenton. 11, 83. Town- 
ship, Southampton, 52. Township, 
Warminster, 46, 48, 55 ; The 
British in, 48. Township, More- 
land, 54, 55, Torbert, Simpson, 
78. Troop, Union, 82. Tavern, 
Ann Hinkle's, 82. Township, 
Northampton, 88. Tavern, Black 
Bear, 106. Tavern, White Bear, 
108. Tavern, The Buck, 109. 
Tariff Discussions, 130. Taylor, 
President, 133, 136. Trainings 
Up County, 153. 



V 



Valley Forge, 20 ; Army Marches 
from. 21. Vansant, Harman, 59. 
Vanartsdalen, Captain Christopher, 
60. Volunteers, Early, in Bucks, 
73. Van Buren, Martin, 122, 123. 
Vaux, Richard, 147. Volunteers, 
One Hundred and Fourth Regi- 
ment of, 184. 



w 

Washington Crosses the Dela- 
ware. 11; At Germantown, 20; 
Marches from Valley Forge, 21 ; 
Returns South from New York, 74. 
Wynkoop, Judge, 12. Wayne, Gen- 
eral, 21. Washington City, 37; 
Capture of, 55, 187. Witney, 46. 
Watts, John, 49. Watts, Arthur, 
50, 52, Watts, Stephen, 50. Watts, 
William, 62. Wilmington, 65. 
Wilson, Captain, 73. Wayne, 
Captain, 73. Whiskey Insurrection, 
73. Willett, General Augustin, 
7^. Walton, Benjamin, 75. Wall, 
General Garret D., 76. Wolf, 
George, 102 ; Elected Governor, 
103, 146. Wright, Caleb E., 108. 
Wright, Silas, 126. Warminster, 
1152. War with Mexico, 133. 
VVelsh, Henry, 148. Wilmot, 
David, 149. Warner, Joseph, 165. 
Warminster P. O., 165. White, 
John, 166. Wood, Rev. W. S., 172. 



u 



University, Norwich Military, 91. 



Yorktown, Siege of, 24, 25. 
York, Pa., 24. Yerkes. Harman, 
45. Yerkes, Arthur, 52. 






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